Skip navigation
MOST POPULAR RELATED TAGS
  • TOPICS
  • SECTORS
  • COMPANIES
Media Money Video Gallery
Microsoft is reportedly talking to News Corp about teaming up on a search plan that would withhold content, including th...
Discussing Viacom's Paramount Pictures strategy, with CNBC's Julia Boorstin and Brad Grey, Paramount Pictures.
MEDIA MONEY INDEX
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

MEDIA MONEY VIDEO GALLERY

» More

Current DateTime: 10:59:08 23 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31765984
Expiration DateTime: 11/23/2009 11:00:04 AM

RSS FEED

» Help

Current DateTime: 10:59:08 23 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31625651

Media Money

Text Size
Jun.26
2:48 PM ET
Thursday, 26 Jun 2008
Sam Zell Doing A Tribune Fire Sale?
Posted By:Julia Boorstin
Sectors:Media
Companies:Tribune Co

Sam Zell
AP
Sam Zell

When Sam Zell led an $8.2 billion buyout of the Tribune Company[TRB  Loading...      ()   ] we knew the real estate mogul would make some big changes.

He's done layoffs, slashed news pages and upped advertising. Now he's using his real estate expertise and turning to some less obvious ways to raise money- by almost literally dismantling the company, and I'm not talking about his sale of Newsday, the New York daily.

Zell, now the company's chief executive, is looking into selling the company's high valued real estate, including Chicago's landmark Tribune Tower and the Times Mirror Square complex in downtown LA. He used softer terms when explaining his plan to employees, saying he wants to "maximize value" of the company's "underutilized" real estate.

Is selling these iconic buildings worth it? Perhaps-- their prime location and spacious square footage could bring hundreds of millions of dollars-- at least $150 million for the Tribune tower and $235 million for the LA Times complex, according to real estate experts. But that's far too simple for savvy Zell. Tribune has a much more sophisticated plan than an outright sale. Tribune said it wants to maintain a stake in the building and be able to stay in them for at least five years. Tribune could sell the buildings on the condition of a low-cost lease for the next five years. Or it could ship the journalists to lower rent buildings and lease out the landmark buildings.

Zell has been on a bit of a selling spree-- it's auctioning off the Cubs, which are expected to bring in up to $1 billion, last month it agreed to sell Newsday for $650 million, and now this. All in, this year Zell should be able to eliminate about a billion dollars in debt. This has been a top priority of Zell's since taking the company private in December when the debt load was $13 billion.

I've been blogging about the travails of the newspaper industry, yesterday writing about an Orange County paper outsourcing to India. Well, if Zell is really determined to cut costs, I wonder where he'll go next.

Questions?  Comments? 

© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Tools:
PrintEmailAdd This share icon
Next Post
  • digg share
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 06:27:23 23 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 10:08:23 23 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 10:23:55 23 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 09:12:15 23 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters