Bloomberg’s reported interest in buying New York Times sends shares soaring
By Keith J. Kelly
May 1, 2015 | 10:30pm
New York Times Co. shares leaped 10.7 percent in after-hours trading after Fox Business Network reported billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg had expressed renewed interest in buying the paper.
The former New York City mayor was prepared to pay up to $5 billion to acquire the Gray Lady — more than double the $2.3 billion market cap of the company.
Bloomberg LP completely dismissed the FBN report as untrue.
“There is no truth to this rumor,” Ty Trippet, a spokesman for the data and business news service, said in an e-mail.
Mike Bloomberg has in the past expressed interest in buying the paper — but the Sulzberger family, which controls the publicly traded company, has said multiple times that it is not for sale.
The report on FBN, by senior correspondent Charles Gasparino, aired at around 4:45 p.m. Friday and cited investment banking sources.
In regular trading before the report, NYT shares closed up 1.6 percent, to $13.60.
The publisher, which has battled deteriorating print ad revenue for years, this week reported continued gains in digital ad sales.
http://nypost.com/2015/05/01/bloombergs-reported-interest-in-buying-new-york-times-sends-shares-soaring/
