As expected, Mort Zuckerman made an official bid of $580 million for Newsday, matching the same offer made by News Corp. (NYSE:NWS-A) and Rupert Murdoch. Zuckerman is the owner of the New York Daily News.
The only reason I can see for a higher offer not being submitted, is the assumption Murdoch will run into regulatory problems, making a higher offer meaningless from Zuckerman's perspective. Of course that assumption isn't guaranteed to be what happens in the end.
News Corp. has asserted they're not concerned about regulatory hurdles because there's little overlap in their existing properties and Newsday.
Under the tentative deal with News Corp., Tribune Co. would retain a stake in Newsday of less than 5 percent. It would be considered more of a joint venture, primarily between New York Post and Newsday, although other media properties of News Corp. would be included in the venture.
Sam Zell is having to unload some of the properties included with the acquisition of Tribune Co. in order to cut down on the debt related to the deal. Zell bought the company for $8.2 billion and took it private.
Yes on such even to look terribly:).
Posted by: Bernard Lavilliers | April 26, 2008 10:31 AM | Permalink to Comment