Billionaire close to deal for Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong is nearing a deal to buy the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune from its parent company, Tronc, according to two people familiar with the talks.
The nearly $500 million deal would return the Times to local ownership after 18 years and represent a major shift for Tronc, which has long built its strategy around owning newspapers in the country’s largest cities.
A deal had not been reached Tuesday afternoon, but both sides were working furiously to complete the transaction and
an announcement could come quickly, said those sources, who were not authorized to speak about the negotiations publicly and requested anonymity.
Tronc is expected to use the $500 million in proceeds to further its digital strategy at its other newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel and Baltimore Sun.
Soon-Shiong had been rumored several years ago to be among a group of wealthy Angelenos who were interested in buying the Times. In May 2016, the biotech magnate invested $70.5 million in the newspaper’s parent company, then called Tribune Publishing, since changed to Tronc Inc. His current stake is 26 percent.
At the time, the deal helped Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro to fight off a hostile takeover bid by rival newspaper company Gannett. But their relationship has since soured.
Times Publisher Ross Levinsohn, who was appointed in August, is on unpaid leave pending an investigation into sexual harassment claims while he was an executive at other companies. The Times newsroom last month overwhelmingly voted to join the News Guild-Communication Workers of America.