Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 05, 2009 at 07:08:55:
Investment bank chairman James Tyree putting together bid to buy Sun-Times Media Group
May 4, 2009
BY DAVID ROEDER | Chicago Sun-Times
James Tyree, chairman of a Chicago-based investment bank, said today he is putting together a group to bid for the company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times.
Tyree said he is reviewing the books of Sun-Times Media Group Inc. and discussed a bid last week with Jeremy Halbreich, the newspaper company’s chairman. Sun-Times Media Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization March 31.
“It’s not put together,” Tyree said of his group, cautioning that he’s early in the review process. He is the chairman of Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc., but he said Mesirow would not be part of the deal.
Tyree said his plan would be to keep the Chicago Sun-Times together with the suburban papers and allied web sites the company owns. The suburban papers includes the Pioneer Press chain in the northern and western suburbs plus dailies that encircle the Chicago area from Waukegan to Gary, Ind.
“My premise is that the papers have great content. It’s content that people want and they find valuable,” Tyree said. He said the challenge is figuring out how the company operates as a $200 million-a-year business vs. $400 million a year, if that’s the long-term reality of media advertising.
Like other newspaper companies, Sun-Times Media Group has struggled with declining ad revenue as business and some readership moves to the Internet. But circulation at the Chicago Sun-Times has held steady or increased while other major papers have reported declines.
Tyree said he expects the company will be sold via the bankruptcy proceedings within 60 days. He also said he expects competition from other bidders.
A Sun-Times spokeswoman would not discuss bidders and said the company “is very early in the sale process.”
The company’s most significant creditor is the Internal Revenue Service, which alleges it is owed $608 million stemming from business practices of former owners, including the imprisoned Conrad Black. But bankruptcy could induce the IRS to settle for whatever a buyer is willing to pay.
Crain’s Chicago Business first reported Tyree’s review of Sun-Times books. However, he has expressed interest in the company for several years, always saying that he “will find buyers” if it could settle its IRS liabilities.