Carlyle Group consider bids for Tribune Co.

Purchasing The Chicago Tribune and the LA Times would greatly help control the flow of information.Investing alot of money in purchasing media.A millitary invested company controlling information?Interesting.

(Boston.com)-US buyout firms Apollo Management LP and Carlyle Group are exploring separate takeover bids for Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, people familiar with the matter said.

Apollo, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, and Providence Equity Partners Inc. are considering a joint offer, while Carlyle so far is working alone, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP also are studying a bid for Tribune, which has a market value of $8.1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

Tribune, based in Chicago, last month said it may sell all or some of its assets, which also include 25 TV stations and the Chicago Cubs. The Chandler family, the company's largest shareholder, pressed for the move in June after a 19 percent decline in the company's shares over the preceding five years.

www.boston.com...

[edit on 25-10-2006 by Black_Fox]

The Carlyle Group likes to buy up failing companies, reorganize them for efficiency, and sell them for a profit. Or use them in the meantime for government contracts that they know they can get a hefty price on.

They KNOW because they have an inside track with lobbyists and government (Pentagon too) officials who are writing them.

Getting into the journalism business could be a sign of some lucretive contract deals coming up.