Los Angeles Times faces possible ownership change
Xinhua,February 07, 2018 Adjust font size:
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles Times could soon change owners as U.S. biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong is nearing a deal to buy it, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Soon-Shiong, a major shareholder of Tronc, is expected to buy the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune together from the parent company Tronc, which is based in Chicago.
The deal is reported to be worth nearly 500 million U.S. dollars if completed.
Though both sides are working hard to complete the transaction, a deal had not been reached by Tuesday afternoon.
Soon-Shiong had been rumored to be among a group of wealthy Angelenos who were interested in buying the newspaper several years ago.
His interest in the paper was formalized in May 2016 when the biotech magnate invested 70.5 million dollars in its parent company, then called Tribune Publishing, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Soon-Shiong, 65, was born in South Africa to Chinese immigrant parents who fled from China during World War II.
According to Forbes, as the founder and CEO of the California-based firm NantHealth, Soon-Shiong's wealth now stands at an estimated 7.8 billion dollars.
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper which has been published in Los Angeles since 1881. Enditem