Ever since the New York Times Company announced that it was selling the Boston Globe, people have been speculating about who/what will purchase the paper.

Because the media is nothing but precise, that list has now been narrowed down to about 834 potential buyers. Below are all the ones we found mentioned, but we’ve surely missed one or 500.

Read more

Today, The Boston Globe has an update on its own sale process.

The Boston paper reports that two potential buyers have offered to pay around $35 million for the Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and have visited the paper in the past five days.

One group is led by Stephen Taylor, whose family used to own the Globe before selling it to The New York Times Co. The other group is private equity firm Platinum Equity, which purchased The San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this year.

Since the potential sale was revealed over the summer, another party headed by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and Jack Connors, chairman of Partners HealthCare, was said to be interested in the Globe. However, today the Globe reports that Pagliuca and Connors made the lowest bid for the paper and have not taken a tour of the facilities in recent days. Pagliuca and Connors could be pulling out of the bidding as Pagliuca considers running for Sen. Edward Kennedy‘s Senate seat. If he runs, owning a newspaper could be a conflict of interest, the paper said.

Final bids are due at the end of the month.

Last week, Times Co. executives Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Janet Robinson visited the Globe in an effort to calm employees’ fears about the future of the paper.

“Our hand is not being forced,” Sulzberger told the Boston employees, adding that the decision to sell would take a number of factors into consideration, including the impact a sale would have on the paper and the Boston community.

Two bidders visit Globe; third group may drop out –Boston Globe

Earlier: Sulzberger, Robinson Try To Calm Boston Globe Employees’ Fears In Meeting Today

Last week, The Boston Globe revealed that its owner, The New York Times Co., had been approached by a third group of potential buyers interested in purchasing the beleaguered New England paper.

According to the Globe, the potential buyer is investment firm Platinum Equity, run by billionaire Tom Gores. The firm has already delved in to the news business with the purchase of The San Diego Union-Tibune earlier this year. And what Platinum and Gores did at that paper may come to bear if they get a stab at the Globe.

In a profile of Gores and Platinum this weekend the Globe said the purchase of the Union-Tribune resulted in aggressive cost-cutting, a Platinum signature:

“Platinum has replaced or laid off six of the Union-Tribune‘s top eight managers since taking over, and it cut 18 percent, or 192 people, of the staff three days after the deal was completed. It has also hired consultants to monitor the productivity of reporters and editors and is looking to rent out the top two floors of the newspaper’s headquarters.

“There are fewer news pages, a stand-alone Sunday opinion section has been eliminated, and some of the paper’s most seasoned journalists are gone. Newsroom staffing is about 200 employees, down from 250 at the time of the sale, and another round of layoffs is expected next week…”

Read more

Today we have two updates on the possible sale of The Boston Globe, both coming from the Globe itself.

Last month, Globe owner the New York Times Co. avoided the question of whether the Globe was up for sale while reporting its second quarter earnings. During a conference call, CEO Janet Robinson said the Times Co. would not comment on rumors of a sale, but noted that cost cutting measures and increased newsstand pricing had helped “put it on stronger financial footing.”

However, yesterday the Globe reported that the Times Co. had revealed the sale in a quarterly report filed with the SEC. In the filing, the company said it had hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. “to explore the potential sale of its New England Media Group,” which includes the Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, as well as their Web sites, the Globe said.

Then today, the paper said that California buyout firm Platinum Equity, which recently purchased the San Diego Union-Tribune, had made a $35 million bid for the Globe to the Times Co. last week. The offer also included the assumption of $59 million in pension liabilities, the Globe added.

Platinum’s bid is the third received by the Times Co., according to the Boston paper. The other two bids came from two Boston-based groups, one led by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and former ad exec Jack Connors, and the other headed up by Stephen Taylor, a former executive at the Globe and a member of the family that sold the paper to the Times Co. in 1993.

Earlier: Businessmen With Boston Roots Come To Globe‘s Rescue

Earlier this week, Boston Globe union the Boston Newspaper Guild,
spoke out in support of the New York Times Co.‘s decision to seek a buyer for the Boston paper. But we wondered: who would step up to buy the Globe — and possibly save it from extinction?

Today, the Globe reports that three businessmen, all with Boston roots, have stepped up as potential buyers. The Globe‘s sources revealed that those deciding whether to buy the newspaper are Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca; Jack Connors, chairman of Partners HealthCare; and Stephen Taylor, a former executive at the Globe and member of the family that sold the paper to the Times Co. in 1993. The three men are still in the initial stages of inquiry and it’s unclear whether they will eventually make formal bids.

Despite the promise of a potential buyer, the dispute between the Globe‘s staff and the paper’s owner continues. On Monday, the guild, the Globe‘s largest union, voted down concessions offered by the Times Co. As a result, the Times Co. promised 23 percent wage cuts across the board. The Globe has since filed a grievance against the company with the National Labor Relations Board and both sides are set to meet on Monday to hopefully reach a deal that will give the Times Co. the cutbacks it needs without the drastic wage cuts.

It still remains to be seen if the labor dispute will deter potential buyers. Even the Globe speculated today that a buyer might wait until the storm blows over before taking on the paper. If that’s the case, let’s hope it gets resolved quickly so to the Globe can be passed along to an owner that is invested in its survival and can keep it alive.

Earlier: The Boston Globe Might Be For Sale As Tense Labor Talks Continue