| When: Today, Wednesday, February 26th Where: CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report" Following is the unofficial transcript of breaking news from CNBC's Kayla Tausche. All references must be sourced to CNBC. |
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| TAUSCHE: HI SCOTT, YES THE WELL KNOW NEWSPAPER AND BROADCASTING COMPANY, TRIBUNE COMPANY, EXITED BANKRUPTCY IN DECEMBER AND I'VE JUST LEARNED THAT THE COMPANY HAS HIRED BANKERS TO SELL IT'S PUBLISHING ASSETS. THERE ARE IT'S NEWSPAPERS AND LIKELY TO INCLUDE IT'S CAREER BUILDER WEBSITE IT'S VALUED BY NOMURA ANALYST AT ABOUT $850 MILLION TO A BILLION DOLLARS. I'VE LEARNED THAT EVERCORE AND JPMORGAN ARE LIKELY TO BE TAPPED THIS WEEK TO SELL THOSE ASSETS. THEY ARE GOING TO LEAD AN AUCTION OVER THE COURSE OF THE COMING WEEKS. NEWS CORP IS EXPECTED TO PLAY A PROMINENT ROLE IN THOSE DISCUSSIONS THERE. OF COURSE, TRIBUNE COMPANY WAS TAKEN PRIVATE BY SAM ZELL AT THE HEIGHT OF THE LEVERAGE BUYOUT BOOM, WENT INTO BANKRUPTCY SHORTLY THERE AFTER AND EVEN THOUGH IT IS OUT OF BANKRUPTCY AND PRIVATELY HELD RIGHT HOW, IT SEES A BIG HEDGE FUND HOLDING ITS TRADING ON THE PINK SHEETS. IT'S BEEN TRADING FAIRLY ACTIVELY, PRIVATE MARKET ANALYSTS SAY THAT IT HAS A MARKET CAP OF ROUGHLY $5 BILLION AND OF COURSE THE SALE OF THESE NEWSPAPERS WOULD BE A BOOM FOR ANYONE HOLDING THOSE SHARES ON THE PINK SHEETS. DEFINITELY WELL KNOW ASSETS WITHIN THAT UNIT WE'RE TALKING THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, CHICAGO TRIBUNE AS WELL AS THE HARTFORD COURANT AND SEVERAL OTHER NEWSPAPER ASSETS. THIS IS DEFINITELY A SITUATION THAT WE'LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON BUT WE HAVE LEARNED THAT BANKERS HAVE BEEN HIRED OR WILL BE HIRED THIS WEEK TO BE SELLING THOSE ASSETS. |
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