Tribune buyouts announced today

Readallover · Jan 13, 2020

https://nypost.com/2020/01/13/tribu...untary-buyouts-at-ny-daily-news-other-papers/
Just waiting to hear when the axe swings at New Gannett.

cubman · Jan 13, 2020

Our printing press here in Columbus will close as of March 6, affecting 188 people. How many of them get new jobs within the company is anyone's guess.
My gut instinct is buyouts and layoffs are coming, probably within the next month or two.

LanceyHoward · Jan 15, 2020

Alden has bought about a third of Tribune. According to Ken Doctor Tribune was budgeting for a 20% drop in cash flow because of declining revenues. Alden said cut costs and budget for a zero percent drop.

Newsonomics: Worried about Alden taking control of Tribune? It’s already pulling strings inside

Tarheel316 · Jan 16, 2020

LanceyHoward said: ↑

Alden has bought about a third of Tribune. According to Ken Doctor Tribune was budgeting for a 20% drop in cash flow because of declining revenues. Alden said cut costs and budget for a zero percent drop.

Newsonomics: Worried about Alden taking control of Tribune? It’s already pulling strings inside
Click to expand...

Gordon Gekko approves.

The Big Ragu · Jan 16, 2020

LanceyHoward said: ↑

Alden has bought about a third of Tribune. According to Ken Doctor Tribune was budgeting for a 20% drop in cash flow because of declining revenues. Alden said cut costs and budget for a zero percent drop.

Newsonomics: Worried about Alden taking control of Tribune? It’s already pulling strings inside
Click to expand...

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.

Tarheel316 · Jan 16, 2020

The Big Ragu said: ↑

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.
Click to expand...

In other words, the Gordon Gekko approach.

LanceyHoward · Jan 16, 2020

The Big Ragu said: ↑

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.
Click to expand...

In answer to point 1. This is the quote from the link. "In 2019, Tribune reported earnings (EBITDA) of $97 million. Twenty percent down from that is about $20 million." So Doctor was confused and not really writing about earnings. The Tribune Company has been having negative earnings ever since it book the sale of the LA Times. Doctor frequently confuses earnings and EBITDA..
As to point 2. It is odd that it is written that way.

Readallover · Jan 17, 2020

Here are the buyout details:
https://nypost.com/2020/01/16/buyou...shing-staff-at-ny-daily-news-chicago-tribune/

HappyCurmudgeon · Jan 19, 2020

An Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote about why he won't take the buyout and spotlighted many of his co-workers who are also stilling plugging away.

Once again, Tribune wants veteran journalists to leave. Here’s why we haven’t ... yet. | Commentary

Liut · Jan 19, 2020

HappyCurmudgeon said: ↑

An Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote about why he won't take the buyout and spotlighted many of his co-workers who are also stilling plugging away.

Once again, Tribune wants veteran journalists to leave. Here’s why we haven’t ... yet. | Commentary
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing.

Tarheel316 · Jan 21, 2020

The Big Ragu said: ↑

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.
Click to expand...

There’s nothing good to say about Alden.

matt_garth · Jan 31, 2020

https://nypost.com/2020/01/30/tribu...nging-glory-hallelujah-about-buyout-packages/

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Tribune buyouts announced today

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Tribune buyouts announced today

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