News Corp denies talks with 2 papers

MEXICO CITY: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp denied it has held talks to acquire the Los Angeles Times or Chicago Tribune once the newspapers’ owner, Tribune Co, emerges from bankruptcy.

“Reports that News Corp is in discussions with Tribune or the L.A. Times are wholly inaccurate,” Julie Henderson, a spokeswoman for the New York-based media company, said in an e-mailed statement.

The denial encompassed reported talks with Tribune’s creditors, News Corp said.

Published reports last week said that News Corp executives were in early negotiations with Tribune’s debt holders, including Los Angelesbased Oaktree Capital Management, who will gain control of the Chicagobased company after court supervision ends. Oaktree declined to comment.

News Corp is preparing to separate its entertainment and publishing businesses, in part to allow the 81-year-old Murdoch to pursue publishing unencumbered. News Corp was forced to write down its US$5.2bil 2007 acquisition of Dow Jones & Co, owner of The Wall Street Journal, and investors have gone sour on the newspaper business as the Internet eats into advertising and profits.

Murdoch, whose roots in newspapers date back decades, has expressed interest in the Los Angeles Times in the past.

He may go shopping for distressed newspapers once News Corp’s split became final next year, according to one person with knowledge of the matter, who wasn’t authorised to speak publicly.

No News Corp executives had reviewed any internal Tribune financial information, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

In August, some Tribune Co creditors lost their bid to halt the newspaper chain’s plan to exit bankruptcy without first posting a US$1.5bil bond.

Tribune owes creditors about US$13bil. The company was valued at more than US$7bil, Tribune said in court papers.

Company officials have said Tribune would be able to exit bankruptcy this year if federal regulators approved the reorganisation plan and transfer of its radio and television licences to proposed new owners. — Bloomberg