Investment group seeks to buy The Boston Globe
21 Oct 2010
A newly formed group of more than a dozen investors is planning to buy The Boston Globe from its owner, The New York Times Co, the Globe yesterday reported.
The newly formed group, called the 2100 Trust led by Aaron Kushner, owner of a greeting card company, said that it was looking for investors to bid for The New England Media Company, which includes The Globe, Boston.com and The Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts.
''We believe that The Boston Globe's strongest days can be ahead. It is essential that The Globe be positioned for its next 100 years. This will require the significant long-term investment that we intend to make,'' said the 2100 Trust in a statement, which was signed by Jon Tapper, co-founder of Melwood Global , a Boston-based communications company.
Christopher Mayer, publisher of The Globe said in a memo to employees that the paper has not been approached by 2100 Trust and reiterated that the Globe's financial position was better.
The Times Company had put the 138 year-old The Boston Globe for sale last year after having acquired it in 1993 for $1.1 billion, but had to pull it out from the market after receiving low bids and its unions agreed to $20 million in cost cuts. (See: Boston Globe arrives at tentative cost-cutting deal with union)
The Globe was estimated to lose $85 million in 2009 and The New York Times Co had said that the cuts were essential for keeping The Globe going.
The Globe was till recent years one of the top US papers. It boasted a strong international, national and local reporting staff that rivalled its bigger competitors like The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The New York Times.
