Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, who apparently came out of nowhere last month to make a serious offer to Tribune Publishing, a large newspaper chain, has decided to take himself out of the bid, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
Two of the people said that the decision arose in the past few days after employees of mr. Wyss investigated the finances of the Tribune as part of a due diligence process.
The two people added that Mr. Wyss believed it would be difficult for him to turn his ambition to turn The Chicago Tribune – the company’s flagship magazine and the one he’s most interested in – into a national publication. The three people with knowledge of the case spoke about the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the agreement in public.
Mr. Wyss, who earns his fortune as a medical device manufacturer, joined him at Maryland Hotel Manager Stewart Bainum Jr. joined in an effort that seemed to have a chance to prevent Tribune from being fully owned by its largest shareholder, New York. hedge fund Alden Global Capital.
At the end of March, Mr. Wyss and mr. Bainum put together an offer of $ 18.50 per share, which valued the chain at $ 680 million. It comes more than a month after Tribune reached a non-binding agreement to sell itself at $ 17.25 a share to Alden. On April 5, Tribune Publishing said its special committee had determined that Mr. Wyss and mr. Bainum was reasonably expected to lead to a ‘superior proposal’ compared to the Alden bid.
Because Alden is known for reducing costs at the approximately 60 dailies he manages through his subsidiary of MediaNews Group, journalists from Tribune publications have taken the surprising step of Mr. Wyss and mr. Bainum cheered to the bid.
Wyss and Bainum declined to comment. Tribune’s special committee also declined to comment.
Mr. Bainum, who was particularly interested in another Tribune article, The Baltimore Sun, is still committed to owning Tribune Publishing. While Mr. Wyss is no longer on his side, he is looking for new funding, the three people said. Mr. Bainum told the Tribune’s special committee on Friday about Wyss’s departure, said two of the people and confirmed his exit from the deal on Saturday.
Mr. Wyss, who was born in Bern, Switzerland, and has a home in Wyoming, first visited the United States in 1958 as an exchange student and worked as a young man as a journalist. A decade ago, as CEO of the manufacturer of Synthes in Switzerland, he oversaw its sale to Johnson & Johnson for about $ 20 billion.