Owner of Halter Ranch Vineyard in Paso Robles drops out of bid to buy newspaper chain

The Swiss billionaire who owns Halter Ranch Winery in Paso Robles appears to no longer be part of a bid to purchase the Tribune Publishing Co. newspaper chain.

The New York Times on Sunday reported that Hansjörg Wyss, who made his fortune via a medical device manufacturing company he eventually sold to Johnson & Johnson for $21.3 billion in 2012, has dropped out of the bid that would save the publishing company from being purchased by hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

The New York Times reported that two anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter say Wyss’ decision came after his “associates examined the Tribune’s finances as part of a due diligence process.”

They said that in purchasing the company, Wyss had originally hoped to transform The Chicago Tribune, one of Tribune Publishing’s biggest assets, into a national publication, but upon examination realized that would be difficult, The New York Times reported.

Tribune Publishing operates mostly on the East Coast, including papers such as The New York Daily News, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and more.

It is unaffiliated with The San Luis Obispo Tribune, which is owned by publishing company McClatchy.

Tribune Publishing announced April 6 that it was considering a bid from Wyss and Maryland hotel developer Stewart Bainum to purchase the company, despite a previous agreement to sell to the New York-based Alden Global Capital.

The new bid would have had Newslight, a joint company formed by Wyss and Bainum, paying cash for all of Tribune Publishing’s outstanding shares of common stock at a price of $18.50 per share, valuing the publishing company at roughly $680 million.

The deal on the surface also appealed to newsroom critics of Alden Global Capital who have previously spoken out against the hedge fund’s reputation for making deep cuts at its acquired news properties to make them profitable.

Wyss had previously said his interest in Tribune Publishing was that he didn’t want to see another newspaper “going down the drain.”

According to The New York Times report, Bainum is still invested in the deal and is searching for other financing to help see it through.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

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Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.