Posted on 05/10/2008 10:31:55 AM PDT by abb
News Corp. has revoked its bid for Tribune Co.'s Newsday, a company spokesman said, leaving Cablevision Systems Corp. the likely victor of the auction for the Long Island daily.
News Corp., which publishes the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, had bid $580 million for Newsday and already had an informal agreement to acquire the paper, but was unwilling to match the $650 million subsequently offered by Cablevision, a cable systems operator. New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman also bid $580 million for the newspaper but it wasn't immediately clear whether he would submit a higher offer.
News Corp. determined that it couldn't justify matching Cablevision's offer, especially following Tribune Co.'s latest earnings which showed further declines in its newspapers.
Spokesmen for Tribune and the New York Daily News declined to comment.
Cablevision's offer isn't only higher than the other two but it would likely face fewer regulatory hurdles than either News Corp. or Mr. Zuckerman. Both rivals could face tougher antitrust scrutiny, for instance, given their existing New York newspaper holdings.
A Cablevision bid could prompt some pushback from investors, who are likely to question the strategic rationale of the deal. Cablevision last week agreed to acquire the Sundance Channel for about $500 million. The Bethpage, N.Y., company also disclosed a first-quarter net loss last week of $31.6 million, or 11 cents a share.
Cablevision, a major provider of video, broadband and phone services in Long Island and elsewhere in the New York area, is likely to argue there is a logic to the purchase. The company sees potential in the geographic overlap of Newsday and Cablevision's subscriber base, as well as its News12 news service. That could mean Cablevision could include Newsday subscription offers as part of a bundle.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Newsday is worth only what real estate it sits upon and whatever scrap prices its printing presses will bring.
ping
If Cablevision does buy Newsday, it will be the same as setting fire to the money. Newsday - or any other newspaper for that matter - is worth little.
What’s funny is that (the Long Island) Newsday thought it could kill off the NY Post by creating a NY Newsday, the NY Post’s circulation actually grew, forcing NY Newsday to withdraw from NYC again.
What’s LOL funny is that Newsday had Brooklyn and Queens (which are on Long Island, but part of NYC) in its territory BEFORE trying to invade the rest of NYC, but largely retreated from those areas when the NY Post kicked its ass in NYC
What’s ROTFL funny is that Newsday’s circulation has been hurt so bad that it’s owners (Tribune) have had to sell it.
What’s ROTFLPIMP fuuny is that the New York Post’s owner was able to buy Newsday, but has passed on it because it wasn’t worth the money.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/business/media/11murdoch.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
May 11, 2008
News Corp. Withdraws Its Bid for Newsday
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Cablevision on Saturday appeared likely to prevail in the bidding for Newsday, people briefed on the matter said, after the News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, pulled out of the running.
People involved in the negotiations, who would not be named because the talks were confidential, said early this month that Newsday’s owner, the Tribune Company, seemed headed toward accepting Cablevision’s bid, which at $650 million was the highest. Mr. Murdoch, however, told investors and analysts in a conference call Wednesday that he remained confident, counseling, “just be patient for a couple of days.”
Despite that statement, the News Corporation told Tribune on Saturday morning that it was withdrawing its $580 million bid, said Gary Ginsberg, a News Corporation executive vice president.
It was not clear whether the other remaining bidder, Mortimer B. Zuckerman, owner of The Daily News, might still try to raise his offer, also $580 million. A spokesman for Mr. Zuckerman declined to comment.
snip
http://www.newsday.com/news/ny-nynews0511,0,6174868.story
Murdoch drops bid to purchase Newsday
BY JAMES T. MADORE AND ELLEN YAN
james.madore@newsday.com, ellen.yan@newsday.com
2:12 PM EDT, May 10, 2008
Rupert Murdoch has dropped his bid to purchase Newsday, his spokeswoman said Saturday.
Murdoch’s withdrawal means Newsday’s next owner is likely to be Cablevision Systems Corp., barring the last-minute entry of a new suitor or a higher offer from Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman.
“It became uneconomical for us to continue,” Teri Everett of Murdoch’s News Corp. said.
A source close to talks between News Corp. and Newsday’s parent, Tribune Co., confirmed that they had parted ways.
Both Murdoch and Zuckerman bid $580 million for Newsday and its subsidiaries, including the commuter paper amNewYork. But Bethpage-based Cablevision countered with a bid that was $70 million higher.
snip
He may have made an unfortunate purchase when he bought MySpace, but he hasn't gone wrong with any of his media purchases to date that I know of. He probably would have found a way to make that paper profitable.
LOL
I think that pretty bad if Murdoch think Newsday going way of history LOL!
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