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Jack Welch, Other Locals Ponder Purchase of ‘Boston Globe’

Former GE chief Jack Welch and adman Jack Connors are reportedly in talks with investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. to put together a potential deal to make an offer to buy The Boston Globe from The New York Times Co.

JPMorgan has valued The Globe at $550 million to $600 million, writes Editor & Publisher, sourcing The Boston Globe. The Times Co. has said, repeatedly, that the Globe is not for sale.

Globe publisher P. Steven Ainsley sent a letter to staffers after the article ran in the paper, acknowledging that the newspaper industry is facing difficult times and that rumors abound about the future of newspapers. He went on to say that it was “very frustrating to me that neither I nor the company can say more about them but because we are part of a publicly-traded company, to ensure compliance with securities laws, we do not comment on rumors of potential acquisitions or divestitures, regardless of whether they are true or not.”

He added that he is committed to improving the performance of the Globe.

Welch and Connors are looking to assemble a small group of local business people for a bid that would include debt and equity, according to the Globe. Like business leaders in other cities who have looked into purchasing their local newspapers from large media companies, Welch and Connors see the purchase of the Globe as a civic, as well as a financial, investment. They hope to return the paper to its community roots and turn the tide of continuing cutbacks in editorial budgets and losses in advertising and circulation.

Similar efforts have been explored in cities across the country. Earlier this year, when McClatchy purchased two Philadelphia papers from Knight Ridder and then put them on the block, they were purchased by local businessmen. More recently, a group of Los Angeles businessmen expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times from the Tribune Co.