4:43 p.m. | Updated
The Tribune Company has hired investment banks to weigh a sale of its top newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, the media conglomerate said on Tuesday.
The media company, which emerged from bankruptcy late last year, has retained JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners as advisers, a spokesman for Tribune said.
The spokesman, Gary Weitman, added that the move was prompted by unsolicited expressions of interest in the newspapers from various suitors.
“Hiring outside financial advisors will help us determine whether that interest is credible, allow us to consider all of our options, and fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders and employees,” he said in the statement.
Tribune’s move comes as little surprise. Speculation has been swirling around the media industry for some time that a number of potential suitors had emerged for the company’s holdings. That group may include News Corporation, which is in the middle of spinning off its newspaper holdings from its far bigger Fox entertainment operations. That new company may consider acquisitions as a way to gain more clout and reap cost savings.
Another potential buyer is Aaron Kushner, who owns a group of newspapers that include the Orange County Register and who has been publicly vocal about his interest in the Tribune properties.
Peter Liguori, Tribune’s recently appointed chief executive, told The Los Angeles Times last month that he had not ruled out a sale of the company’s newspaper brands but added that he wasn’t “going into this job with a fire-sale sign.”
Tribune is considered likely to hold onto its newspapers, which also include The Baltimore Sun and The Hartford Courant, if the price it fetches is not high enough.
A sale would help Tribune focus more on its bigger broadcasting operations, which includes WGN America and 24 stations across the country. Mr. Liguori himself is a television veteran, having formerly worked in News Corp.’s TV division and at Discovery Communications.
Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008, just one year after the media concern was taken over by the billionaire Samuel Zell in a deal that relied heavily on borrowed money.
The company emerged from Chapter 11 protection on Dec. 31, under the control of the investment firms Oaktree Capital and Angelo, Gordon, as well as JPMorgan.
It left bankruptcy in relatively healthy financial condition, reporting about $9.8 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in liabilities as of Dec. 30.
Evercore was hired earlier this month to advise The New York Times Company as it considers a sale of its New England media assets, principally The Boston Globe.
Shares in Tribune, which trade over the counter, were up 1.3 percent on Tuesday at $53.50. That values the media conglomerate at about $3 billion.
News of the hiring of the banks was reported earlier by CNBC.
DealBook: Tribune Hire Banks to Weigh a Sale of Its Newspapers
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DealBook: Tribune Hire Banks to Weigh a Sale of Its Newspapers
