Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of The Los Angeles Times, denies reports that he investigated the sale of the company.
The denial Friday followed The Wall Street Journal reports that the billionaire investor was selling the company just three years after he bought the Times with the San Diego Union-Tribune and other weekly magazines from Tribune Publishing Company in 2018 for $ 500 million.
“WSJ article inaccurate. We are committed to the @LAATimes, ”Soon-Shiong tweeted. ‘Newspapers are important to the community. Supports @LATimes and @sdut. ”
Newspapers are important to the community. Support the @LATimes and @sdut https://t.co/dn76bM9ROL https://t.co/7kNPl4JZVO
– Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong (@DrPatSoonShiong) 19 February 2021
Referring to people familiar with the matter, the newspaper reports that Soon-Shiong is considering a direct sale of the company, bringing in an additional investor or transferring the management of the properties to another media group.
The Journal also reports that the billionaire investor is considering selling or transferring the management of the San Diego Tribune to another company, possibly MediaNews Group, which is owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital.
Alden announced last week that he acquired Tribune Publishing in a $ 630 million deal.
Steve Severinghaus, a spokesman for The Journal, said in a statement to The Hill: “We are aware of Dr. Soon-Shiong’s tweet. We are confident in our reporting and will continue to follow this evolving story. “
The news comes to Norman Pearlstine announced in December that he would resign from his role as executive editor of the newspaper to assume an advisory role.
A separate rental company manages the process of finding Pearlstine’s replacements.
Updated: 8:40 PM