JAN. 10, 2017, FILE PHOTO
Pharmaceuticals billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong waves as he arrives in the lobby of Drumpf Tower in New York for a meeting with President-elect Donald Drumpf. (EVAN VUCCI/AP)
BY
MEG JAMES
JAMES RUFUS KOREN
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, 9:55 PM
LOS ANGELES-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 cash deal, if consummated, would return The Times to local ownership after 18 years and represent a major shift for Chicago-based Tronc, which has built its strategy around owning newspapers in the country’s largest cities. The company has said that The Times was the cornerstone of its strategy, given its proximity to Hollywood and the Pacific Rim.
A deal had not been reached Tuesday afternoon, though 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 pay down company debt and further its digital strategy across the remaining papers, which include The Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Orlando Sentinel and Baltimore Sun. Soon-Shiong would assume pension liabilities for the California News Group, the entity that owns The Times and the Union-Tribune.
The talks accelerated over the weekend after a flurry of news articles questioning Tronc’s oversight of the storied brand and a critical New York Times article that suggested that Los Angeles’ wealthy class had abandoned its hometown newspaper at a time when other billionaires, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, had stepped up. Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million and invested in its newsroom.
The Times has experienced months of turmoil, starting in August when several top editors were ousted. Ross Levinsohn, a former Yahoo and Fox executive, was appointed its new publisher and brought his own team to develop a new digital strategy. But last month, he was placed on unpaid leave pending an investigation into sexual harassment claims that occurred at previous jobs. There have been three top editors in the last six months, including Jim Kirk, who was named editor in chief last week. He replaced former Forbes editor Lewis D’Vorkin, whose tumultuous three-month tenure was marked by contentious dealings with staff. And last month, The Times’ newsroom, unhappy with corporate management and years of cost-cutting, overwhelmingly voted to join the News Guild-Communication Workers of America.
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You listed a source but ideally you dont want to copy the entire article.
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It wouldn't allow me to paste the entire article which was why I added the "..." below the following paragraph, then pasted the link to the article. Perhaps the article may have been a little to long, but I could be wrong.
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