Tronc weighs private equity firm’s bid for chain, sources say

CHICAGO — Less than two months after selling the Los Angeles Times, Tronc is weighing an offer to sell its newspaper holdings to a private equity firm, sources close to the company said Wednesday.

A bid of $19 to $20 per share is on the table, according to sources. That represents about a one-third premium to the stock’s $14.77 per share closing price Tuesday, and a total offer that could be upward of $700 million for the entire company.

Tronc shares closed at $16.64, up 12.66 percent, Wednesday.

Tronc spokeswoman Marisa Kollias declined to comment Wednesday. The company is releasing its second-quarter earnings after the market closes Thursday. Sources said that at least one other private equity bid for Tronc may also be in the works. Politico reported in July on the possibility of an offer for the company from a private equity firm.

The Chicago-based newspaper chain, formerly known as Tribune Publishing, completed the $500 million sale of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune to biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong in June, leaving it a smaller but virtually debt-free company.

Tronc reported in June it had about $240 million in cash on hand after receiving the proceeds from the Los Angeles Times sale and paying off debt. In addition to owning the Los Angeles Times and other California properties, Soon-Shiong remains the second largest shareholder in Tronc with a nearly 25 percent stake.

In addition to the Chicago Tribune, Tronc’s other major daily newspapers include The Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida’s Sun Sentinel and the New York Daily News, which it bought last year for $1 and the assumption of operational and pension liabilities.

Last month, Tronc laid off about half of the editorial staff at the Daily News.

In June, an investor group’s $208.6 million deal to buy former Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro’s nearly 26 percent stake in the newspaper chain fell through when the buyer, McCormick Media, was unable to fully finance the transaction.