The owner of the Los Angeles Timesmay soon be targeted by a bidding war, media speculation suggests.
Tribune's biggest shareholder and a group led by two Los Angeles billionaires submitted rival bids for the company, while private equity firm Carlyle Group reportedly offered to buy Tribune's TV station group.
The offers for the entire company came in at only a small premium, reflecting concerns over the future of the newspaper industry.
Tribune's largest shareholder, Chandler Trusts, submitted an offer that would break the company up by taking the newspaper assets private, according to a regulatory filing last night.
Another offer, from billionaires Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, takes the form of a leveraged recapitalisation, a source said.
Carlyle submitted a bid for the TV Station group, a division analysts value at around $4 billion, the Wall Street Journalreported last night.
Under pressure from unhappy shareholders worried about declining newspaper circulations and weak advertising sales, Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Timesand the Chicago Cubs baseball team, had invited buyout proposals in an auction that closed on Wednesday afternoon.
Although the premiums offered for the whole company were relatively small, there had been concern that the auction might not draw any offers at all after several private equity firms looked at Tribune and decided to pass on the auction.