Zell's 'mistake'

Posted by Marion Geiger on April 16, 2009 at 4:09 PM

Owner of Tribune Co., Sam Zell, said to Bloomberg television that privatizing the company was a mistake. He acquired it in 2007 in an $8.2 billion deal, which resulted in an enormous debt as the company's revenue plummeted. "I was too optimistic in terms of the newspaper's ability to preserve its position," said the reputed top real estate executive.

Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2008 and The Sun-Times Media Group Inc filed at the end of March. Earlier this year the Star Tribune Holdings Corp., Journal Register Co. and Philadelphia Newspapers LLC also filed for bankruptcy protection, covering several regions of the United States.

"It's very obvious that the newspaper model in its current form is not working. And the sooner we all acknowledge that, the better. Whether it be home delivery, whether it be giving content away for free, I mean these are critical issues," added Zell, saying that the industry and Tribune Co. need to look at every option they can think of to dig themselves out of the hole.

Source: Sun-Times