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Chicago Billionaire Zell May Bid for Tribune Co.

Published on February 08, 2007 | Email this article

Tribune Co. may have another bidder in the mix, according to sources close to the matter. Sam Zell, Chicago real estate magnate, has approached Tribune Co. with a complicated proposal that may include taking an equity stake while adding debt in order to fund a large dividend for shareholders, writes the Chicago Tribune.

Zell has reportedly spoken with Tribune’s second-largest shareholder, the McCormick Tribune Foundation, about his bid, as he would likely need the foundation’s support to make the deal happen. Running the foundation are current and former Tribune Co. executives, including former chairman and chief executive John Madigan and current chairman and CEO Dennis FitzSimons.

Other sources close to the situation have said that the three offers for the Tribune Co., from the Chandler family, LA billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad, and Carlyle Group, have failed to gain much traction within Tribune’s board committee.

Zell’s move to pull together a bid seems strange to some, considering the fact that his Equity Office Properties Trust is currently the target of one of the biggest bidding wars in Wall Street history.

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