Zell reportedly eyes Tribune Co.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sam Zell, whose Equity Office Properties is about to be sold for $23 billion after a hot bidding war for the firm, is reported to be the latest billionaire interested buying control of Tribune Co., which has not attracted the offers that company had hoped for when it was put up for sale.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Zell, whose Equity Office (Charts) is based in Chicago, has approached Tribune Co. (Charts) with a complicated proposal that may include taking an equity stake in the company while adding debt to fund a large dividend for shareholders.

Sam Zell

The paper said more details of the offer were not immediately available and that Zell and the Tribune Co. both declined to comment. The Chicago Tribune is one of the flagship publications of the newspaper and broadcast company whose holdings also include the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

The paper reports Zell has spoken with Tribune's No. 2 shareholder, McCormick Tribune Foundation, about his interest in trying to structure a deal for the media conglomerate. The foundation owns 11.7 percent of the company's shares and the paper reports Zell would need the foundation's support to make a deal work.

The Chandler family, the former owners of the Los Angeles Times which is also owned by the chain, are the largest shareholder with a 15.4 percent stake. The Chandlers have been one of the groups reportedly bidding $31.70 a share for the company, on a 2 percent premium from current market value. Two Los Angeles billionaires, Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, reportedly are bidding $34 a share for the company.

Media conglomerate News Corp. (Charts) Chairman Rupert Murdoch told investors Wednesday that his company is interested in working with the Chandler family in its bid for the Tribune Co., with an eye towards setting up a joint operating agreement between News Corp.'s New York Post and Tribune Co.'s Newsday.

Zell is the chairman and largest shareholder of Equity Office, with his latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing showing him with 4.8 million shares and options of the company. That stake is worth $264 million under a $55.50 a share cash offer from private equity firm Blackstone Partners, which is likely to be accepted by Equity Office shareholders at a meeting Wednesday, after a competing $56 a share cash and stock bid made by Vornado Realty (Charts) was withdrawn.

Zell's net worth is estimated to be worth $4.5 billion by Forbes, which makes him the nation's 52nd richest person.

A number of other high-profile billionaires other than Broad and Burkle from outside the newspaper industry have been reported as being interested in buying newspapers in the last year. They include former General Electric (Charts) Chairman and CEO Jack Welch, whose name has been tied to a possible purchase of the Boston Globe from the New York Times Co. (Charts) Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the ousted chairman and CEO of insurer American International Group (Charts), has been reported to be interested in both the Times and the Tribune Co., although a spokesperson for Greenberg denied a report he was buying Times shares.

A privately held firm led by public relations executive Brian Tierney bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News for $515 million in 2006 when the former owner, Knight-Ridder, agreed to be sold to McClatchy (Charts) in response to shareholder pressure.

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