Harvesting the assets of dying newspapers

By Thomas Lifson

The New York Times Company probably has a collection of historical artifacts, including letters from the famous, which could amount to a considerable sum if liquidated. There is no telling what might be in the Times' vaults and what the value might be.

I note today that Pinch Sulzberger has sold off valuable assets from the New York Times Company, harvesting cash from the legacy bequeathed him by the family trust. But I neglected to remember the point Rosslyn Smith made half a year ago.

Such a treasure trove is just the sort of hidden asset vulture capitalists look for. Of course, the Sulzberger family's control of the NYTCo corporate assets is secured by a two class shareholding system. As long as family members are comfortable with having their fortune dwindle away locked into a dying publishing business, those assets will remain off the market.

Speaking of asset strippers, Rosslyn Smith also pointed out that the rock bottom price paid for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune last year included some very interesting assets: 5 blocks of land on the edge of the downtown district, an area in the midst of development, including a possible stadium for the Minnesota Vikings. She notes:

"Six months after buying the paper for $530 million, Avista Capital just got $45 million of the investment back from the owner of the Vikings for four blocks in downtown Minneapolis. The parcel includes parking lots, a warehouse and an old office building. The deal is also said the include right of first refusal on the Trib's main office building adjacent to the parcel that was sold"

I wonder if the main Star-Tribune building, a moderne-style art deco beauty (Wikipedia has a good picture here) could even be demolished? Preservationists surely carry some weight locally, especially given Minneapolis' disgraceful history of demolishing architectural gems. Large scale development plans that include demolition could run into a fight.