Tribune Company and Times Mirror to Merge

Posted on March 14, 2000

Tribune Company and The Times Mirror Company have announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for a merger of the two companies in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $8 billion. Major newspaper for The Times Mirror includes Los Angles Times, Newsday and The Baltimore Sun. Major newspapers for the Tribune Company include the Chicago Tribune, the Sun-Sentinel and The Orlando Sentinel. Following completion of the merger, Tribune Company will have 11 daily newspapers, 22 television stations and four radio stations.

``Our new company will be the best positioned local market media company for the future,'' said John W. Madigan, Tribune chairman, president and chief executive officer. ``National scale and local depth across media will drive our top line growth. Just as our acquisition of KTLA-TV in 1985 created our national broadcasting footprint, this merger extends that opportunity across broadcasting, newspapers and our interactive businesses,'' Madigan said.

``Tribune Company would not have engaged in this transaction if they did not have the highest regard for our newspapers and other businesses. Our hope and expectation is that they will build on the legacy of greatness that comes with each Times Mirror company. Theirs is a large and well-managed corporation, and one that is also very supportive of the communities it serves,'' said Mark H. Willes, chairman and chief executive officer of The Times Mirror Company.

Building on Tribune's existing television/newspaper presence in Chicago, the transaction will add television/newspaper combinations in three markets -- New York, Los Angeles and Hartford, Conn. Madigan emphasized the benefits of cross-ownership in the nation's three largest media markets. ``As we have learned in Chicago, cross-ownership provides us with an opportunity to provide quality news and information across media channels -- in print, over the air and online -- and take advantage of cross-promotional programs and creative, cross-media advertising sales opportunities,'' he said.