Barely eight months after emerging from bankruptcy, Freedom Communications, parent of the Orange County Register, has put all its newspapers and television stations on the block. That's a combined 100 daily and weekly newspapers, all of them much smaller than the flagship Register, plus eight TV stations in mid-sized markets, the largest West Palm Beach.
But the Poynter Institute's Rick Edmonds writes in a new post today:
Putting media properties up for sale and actually selling them are two different things. The Boston Globe, the newspaper holdings of Landmark Communications, and the Austin American-Statesman were all pulled off the market in 2008 and 2009 when owners ended up dissatisfied with the bids they received.
Still, the Freedom offer will be worth watching both as a potential indicator of a thawing acquisition climate and for further clues on why the bargain-hunting private equity crowd likes newspapers so much when few other investors do.
What are the chances Gannett will bid on any of these properties? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Zero chance. Corporate, especially Gracia, learned the lesson of taking on too much debt, which caused them big headaches as the recession bit. I don't see them taking on new debt for any of these properties, which don't readily fit into GCI's strategy.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to take a long-term look, the small Florida papers look attractive, as does the Palm Beach, Fla. TV station. Rest is a lot of cats and dogs.