Former Tronc chairman sells stake in company
Michael Ferro owned more than 25% of The Times’ parent.
Michael Ferro, who resigned last month as chairman of Chicago-based newspaper chain Tronc, has struck a deal to sell his entire stake in the company, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday.
Ferro, who owned more than 25% of Tronc, the parent of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, agreed to sell his more than 9 million shares at $23 per share, or $208.6 million, to McCormick Media, pending approval by regulators.
Ferro acquired most of those shares for just $8.50 apiece. Tronc shares closed public trading at $17.15 on Friday.
The buyer, related to the McCormick family that controlled the Chicago Tribune throughout much of its history, approached Ferro within the last couple of weeks with the offer, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Ferro, a technology entrepreneur who once owned the Chicago SunTimes, became the largest shareholder and chairman of Tribune Publishing in February 2016, and the corporate name was changed to Tronc shortly thereafter.
Tronc’s second-largest shareholder is Los Angeles biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who is in the process of buying The Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune from the company for $500 million. Soon-Shiong holds a roughly 24.5% stake in Tronc, or about 8.7 million shares.
On Friday afternoon, Soon-Shiong said he was committed to holding on to his Tronc shares.
“Now that the McCormick family have taken over Ferro’s stock, over the course of the next couple of weeks we will try to understand what their vision is,” he said. “But I’m pleased because they have the same values as I do.”
Ferro stepped down from the board of Tronc in late March, just hours before Fortune published a story online accusing him of inappropriate sexual behavior toward two women while in his previous role as head of a Chicago investment firm.