Tribune names advisers

Merril Lynch, Citigroup to help find strategic alternatives

By JILL GOLDSMITH

Tribune, parent company of the Los Angeles Times, on Thursday named Merrill Lynch and Citigroup as financial advisers to help it explore strategic alternatives, proving it's serious about possibly breaking up or selling itself in a quest to boost the stock price.

"In order to maximize shareholder value, our initial focus is determining the best strategic alternatives for the company and its publishing and broadcast groups as a whole before evaluating strategic alternatives for individual business units," said Trib chairman-CEO Dennis FitzSimons in a statement.

The independent special committee of Tribune's board, which will oversee the process, announced that it had retained the firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as legal counsel and that it plans to retain its own financial adviser.

Tribune expects to make an announcement by year's end.

The L.A. Times appears to be the media company's most coveted asset, with local luminaries like David Geffen, Eli Broad and Ron Burkle interested in buying the daily. Trib's other papers include the Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant.

Its broadcasting group operates 25 TV stations.