Tribune Co hires investment bankers to explore sale of newspapers

Tribune Co. has hired two investment banks to consider offers for some of its publishing assets, just two months after it emerged from bankruptcy protection.

According to a statement released by Tribune spokesman, Gary Weitman, ''There is a lot of interest in our newspapers, which we haven't solicited.''

Hiring outside financial advisers will help us determine whether that interest is credible, allow us to consider all of our options and fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders and employees," he added.

Two investment banks JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners will oversee offers for Tribune's publishing assets, including The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and five other newspapers.

JPMorgan is also a part-owner of Tribune Co.

According to some media reports, Tribune hopes to sell all the newspapers in its group to a single buyer instead of selling each paper seperately.