Surprise: the Sun-Times up for sale

By Lou Grant | Feb 05, 8:38 PM

The Sun-Times Media Group put itself up for sale today. Does that seem like old news? Well, you are not losing your mind; in fact the sale of the Chicago Sun-Times has been floated for years.

The difference in this sale is the consideration of all alternatives "to enhance shareholder value… (including) joint ventures, strategic partnerships and the sale of the Company or any or all of its assets."

It has been a rough ride for the Sun-Times Media Group since a summer 2007 story in Forbes magazine touted the stock as a buy at around $4.00 a share. It is now trading in the area of $1.41 a share.

What is of value there may not be the Sun-Times, but rather the community newspapers that surround the city. These publications still hold something of the media monopoly that made newspapers so profitable for so long. Currently valued at roughly $111 million dollars, one possible buyer that keeps being discussed is the Tribune Co.

But that company, now highly leveraged due to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan buyout in December, would also face scrutiny for media consolidation. Particularly in a market in which it controls a major radio and television outlet.

On the upside, such a purchase would probably result in the closing of the Sun-Times and a significant local redoubt for the Tribune Co.

Tagged: Chicago Sun-Times, Forbes, Tribune Company