Tribune Close to Accepting Zell's $8 Billion Offer

TRIBUNE CLOSE TO ACCEPTING ZELL'S $8 BILLION OFFER
[SOURCE: Bloomberg.com, AUTHOR: Justin Baer and Leon Lazaroff]
Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, will probably accept real estate billionaire Sam Zell's $8 billion takeover offer by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter. An agreement is likely by Tribune's self-imposed deadline of March 31, said the people, who declined to be named because no decision has been made. Zell's offer of $33 a share is 6.8 percent above yesterday's close. Zell's offer was competing with the company's plan to reorganize, as well as less-attractive bids from the company's largest shareholder, the Chandler family, and California billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad. The auction dragged on for six months amid waning interest from buyers and an 8.4 percent drop in the stock.
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