Media conglomerate News Corporation (NWS), founded by maintained by Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, has set its sights on expanding its media empire to include the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.
Tribune Company, owner and operator of the newspapers, is expected to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the calendar year. In July of this year, Tribune Co. won a court approval to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Once it emerges, Oaktree Capital Management, JP Morgan Chase and Angelo, and Gordon & Company will become majority owners of the company.
Although the acquisition is not official, Murdoch has expressed strong interest in acquiring the newspapers in the past. Their acquisition would give Murdoch a foothold in the nation’s largest media markets: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago (The Los Angeles Times).
The seizure The Times and Chicago Tribune would come at a good time for News Corporation, which has been plagued with bad press in recent years. In July of last year, one of the oldest and widely read papers in the United Kingdom, News of the World, owned by News Crop., closed its doors due to allegations of phone hackings. The demise of News of the World began when News of the World was revealed to have hired private investigators to intercept and delete the voicemail of murdered British teen, Milly Dowler. The scandal was highly publicized through Europe and left the newspaper in shambles.
However, regulatory concerns set by the Federal Communications Commission and/or other bidders may prevent News Corp. from acquiring the Tribune Company.
Insiders claim The Los Angeles time could sell for $400 million alone.
Murdoch isn’t the only one eyeing The Times, which by itself could fetch as much as $400 million, according to industry insiders.
“We must not, whatever we do, take our foot off the gas when it comes to our newspapers,” Murdoch said last month.
Murdoch has had history in the Boston media market as well. In fact, News Corporation owned the Boston Herald until February of 1994, when it was forced to sell the paper in order that its subsidiary Fox Television Stations could legally consummate its purchase of Fox affiliate WFXT.