The New York Times Company announced Wednesday that it is selling the Boston Globe.
Bloomberg was the first to report the news that the company is seeking to unload its biggest asset besides the New York Times itself. The Times issued a press release shortly after, saying that it has partnered with Evercore Partners to find a suitable buyer for the Globe and the other properties in its New England Media Group.
"Given the differences between these businesses and The New York Times, we believe that a sale is in the best long-term interests of these properties and the employees who work for them as well as in the best interests of our shareholders," Times CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement.
The Times bought the Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993 — a sign of just how different the media landscape was two decades ago. The entire company now has $955 million in cash on hand. It will certainly not be able to attract that kind of price for the paper today; a Wall Street Journal piece in early 2012 speculated that the Globe could be had for about $200 million.
The company has spent the last year or so shedding many of its other business. It sold its regional papers in late 2011, and the About.com site in 2012. In addition, it has recently enacted layoffs at the Times.
The Times had previously flirted with selling the Globe in 2009, but ultimately decided against it. The Globe, the Times said, was on track to lose $85 million that year.
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