A Swiss billionaire no longer tried to buy Tribune Publishing, the New York Times reported Sunday, jeopardizing the bid that favored his journalists.
The Times reports that Hansjörg Wyss withdrew a bid he co-bought with Maryland multimillionaire Stewart Bainum Jr., who wanted to buy Tribune Publishing and the Baltimore Sun, his home page, in the possession of a non-profit business. farm.
Wyss withdrew the bid, which was offered in March, after realizing that the Tribune-owned Chicago Tribune would be a national media brand, according to the Times, which spoke to several sources close to the deliberations. .
According to the sources, Bainum is committed to the bid according to the Times and he is looking for alternative financing for the business. Both Wyss and Bainum, as well as the Tribune, declined to comment on the paper.
Journalists from the Tribune welcomed the entry of Wyss and Bainum into the bid war for the company after it was announced in February that Alden Global Capital, known for aggressively cutting news agencies at media organizations it had bought in the past , has obtained a non-binding agreement. to buy the company. Wyss and Bainum’s bid was ruled superior in March.
Dismissals in the media industry reached a record high in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many companies to close businesses that served as their lucrative weapon.