UNION GROUP LED BY EISENDRATH MAKES BID FOR SUN- TIMES

An investment group led by former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath has submitted a bid against Chicago Tribune parent company Tronc Inc. to buy the Chicago Sun- Times and weekly Chicago Reader.

“We have received a bid from a group led by Edwin Eisendrath and we are currently evaluating the proposal,” Sun- Times Publisher and Editor In Chief Jim Kirk said in an email.

The group, which includes several labor organizations and about a dozen other investors, made a bid of $ 15 million to buy the Sun- Times and Reader from Wrapports LLC, media critic Robert Feder reported.

The “minimum capitalization” for bidders was $ 11.2 million, Feder reported.

“Only coming out of Chicago could we put together something that’s progressive but not elite,” Eisendrath told Feder. “Great journalism in a great democracy means that the 99 percent should recognize themselves in what gets written.”

Bidders had a deadline of 5 p. m. on Monday to submit proposals. Brad Bulkley, the broker for the Wrapports sale, said in an email that multiple bids were received and were “being carefully reviewed.”

Eisendrath did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Representatives for Tronc and the Department of Justice, which is overseeing the Wrapports sale, declined to comment.

Last month, Tronc announced it had a letter of intent to purchase the Sun- Times, Reader and other media assets owned by Wrapports.