New York Times puts the Boston Globe up for sale - again
The Boston Globe is for sale - again. The New York Times Co, which thought about selling the paper in 2009, has confirmed it is working with Evercore Partners as an adviser for a sale.
The Globe: For sale again
A Times statement said the company intends to focus its strategy and investment on the Times brand.
The Times has disposed of other regional newspapers and About.com within the past 13 months.
Former BBC head Mark Thompson was appointed as chief executive officer in August by chairman Arthur Sulzberger .
National advertising in US papers dropped 10 percent in the first nine months of last year, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
The Times now makes more money from readers than advertisers, helped by its pay wall , which now has more than 640,000 paying customers. The Times made $781 million in circulation sales last year.
The Boston Globe, with a weekday sale of 225,000 , still relies primarily on ad dollars. The newspaper's online subscription programme has about 28,000 paying subscribers.
Bidders for the Globe in 2009 included a group led by Stephen Taylor, a member of the family that sold the Globe to the Times in 1993 for $1.1 billion.
One bid in 2009 was about one thirtieth of that - $33 million in cash - but Bloomberg said "fluctuating estimates" of the Boston Globe's pension liability -- ranging from $110 million to $240 million -- scuttled any deal.
It is thought a buyer this time wouldn't have to assume the costs of the pension and could therefore offer more cash .