Tribune Sells Two Papers to Gannett

Media group The Tribune Company will sell its two smallest newspapers, Greenwich Time and the Stamford Advocate, to Gannett Co. for a combined total of over $65 million, as part of its plan to sell $500 million in assets. Tribune is also fielding offers for its nine other papers and 25 TV stations as well as for the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The company continues to evaluate a "self-help" plan that would spin off the broadcast properties into a single company against three bids it has received: one from Sam Zell, who recently sold his Equity Office Property Trust REIT to the Blackstone Group in one of the biggest LBOs in history; one from billionaires Eli Broad and Ronald Burkle, and one from the Chandler Trusts, the company's largest shareholder. The company has said it will make a final decision at the end of this month. Gannett shares fell 1.29% to $60.42; Tribune shares fell less than 1% to $30.

Sources: Reuters, Hartford Courant
Commentary: Tribune Mulls Offer from Sam Zell • WSJ: Tribune Co. Now Leaning Away From Selling Itself • Chandler Family Threatens Tribune With Proxy Fight
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Tribune Company (TRB), Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI). Competitors: Dow Jones & Co. Inc. (DJ), The Washington Post Co. (WPO), The McClatchy Company (MNI), New York Times Co. (NYT)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.