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Three suitors line up to woo the `Los Angeles Times'

Three local billionaires have written separate letters to the Tribune Co expressing their interest in purchasing the US daily the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper reported.

All were told that the Times is not for sale, the newspaper said on Saturday, quoting several people who have seen the letters.

Those making inquiries were philanthropist Eli Broad, who is helping spearhead an effort to redevelop downtown, entertainment mogul David Geffen and former supermarket baron Ron Burkle.

The Chicago-based Tribune Co, which bought the Los Angeles Times in 2000, reviewed the letters at a July 19 board meeting, according to the newspaper.

Each prospective buyer was told that the company was not prepared to discuss a sale "at this time."

"If our perspective changes, we will contact you," Tribune chairman and CEO Dennis Fitzsimmons told them in the letter.

Tribune Co officials declined to discuss the matter.

According to the Times, relations between the California newspaper and its Chicago-based owner have become increasingly strained as the Times' budget has been slashed dramatically and jobs eliminated in response to declining revenue.

The Tribune Co has also come under criticism from the newspaper's former owners, the Chandler family of Los Angeles, which holds more than 12 percent of Tribune stock.

The family, Tribune Co's second-largest shareholder, publicly accused Tribune Co last month of a series of strategic failures and called for the company to take decisive steps to reverse a decline in its stock price.

The company should consider putting itself or its newspaper companies up for sale, according to the family, which controlled the Times for more than a century until the 2000 sale.
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