CARLYLE GROUP LOOKS TO BUY MAJOR MEDIA OUTLETS

[Jcrowley]

Carlyle Group reportedly among possible bidders for Tribune Co.
Washington Business Journal - 2:58 PM EDT Monday

The Tribune Co., the embattled publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, is mulling an outright sale of the company, asking private-equity firms, including one based in Washington, to submit nonbinding indications of interest by the end of the month, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, three groups have emerged as possible bidders:

? D.C.-based Carlyle Group;
? Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, and Apollo Management;
? Thomas H. Lee Partners and Texas Pacific Group.

At the moment, it is unclear whether Carlyle would bid alone or join with a group of buyers.

The report said that some bidders think the Chandler family, the largest shareholder in Tribune after the purchase of Los Angeles' Times Mirror in 2000, would accept a per-share buyout bid in the mid-$30s.

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/10/23/daily12.html

[peacebird]

1. If Carlyle buys the media outright - think how much easier it will be for bush

no longer having to pay Armstrong Williams and Gannon/Guckert under the table. They can just decree the "news" from the top

[OneBlueSky]

17. it's called cutting out the middle man . . .

control the content AND increase your profits . . .

[pooja]

2. Oh, disgusting...

Isn't their laws about companies becoming monopolies in this country...

[Patchuli]

3. Noooooooo!!!!!!!!! nt

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Oh, that's just PEACHY. Goodbye, liberal media bias! nt

[gully]

21. There is no liberal media bias.

There is a bias in favor of Conservatives.

[eppur_se_muova]

26. Did I forget the "sarcasm" smiley again? (Does the "V8 maneuver") nt

[gully]

33. I was wondering if you forgot the sarcasm smiley.

;)

[Sydnie]

5. Where is Soros when we need him here?

He's the only one that I know of with enough money to loan to a group from our side to actually make a competitive bid for this, isn't he?

[nam78_two]

6. Bye bye liberal media that bever existed outside the conservative

imagination anyway!
k&r

[Penndems]

7. Clear Channel is considering selling some of its stations:

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/business/media/15radio.html?ex=1162008000&en=885fcb8aaff67c66&ei=5070

Perhaps this is the deal Carlyle might be interested in: Buying up Clear Channel stations and starting its own network.

[Elwood P Dowd]

8. You're going to see a rash of stories like this

if we win in November. The republican mafia will just buy up more of the media. Have they successfully laundered most of that 9 billion that disappeared in Iraq?

[Jcrowley]

11. As a minor point

The official amount that was laundered is only a fraction and that was only a portion of what was audited in the "proposed" reconstruction.

[Tellurian]

18. Reinvested here..

I've wondered myself, what happened to the Iraqi money?
And how could it disappear so effortlessly, unless....

I'm wondering if they will make the DU an offer, they can't refuse.

[UTUSN]

9. Just a reminder: Carlyle was co-founded by a Jimmy CARTER staffer

I don't know why RUBENSTEIN made it his mission to give jobs to scads of Poppy-ites and RAYGUNites instead of making Dems rich, but Jimmy had a NEST of vipers at his breast: RUBENSTEIN, Pat CADDELL, Tweety...

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3994.htm

.... In a column posted yesterday on Salon.com, Joe Conason writes: "Preferring to avoid public scrutiny for obvious reasons, executives at the Carlyle Group usually say nothing about their firm's connections with the Bush dynasty. But last April 23, Carlyle managing director David Rubenstein spoke quite frankly about the comfy sinecure he provided to George W. Bush more than a decade ago -- and how useless Bush turned out to be. Whether he knew it or not, Rubenstein's remarks to the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association were recorded."

Rubenstein said, "We put (Bush) on the board and (he) spent three years. Came to all the meetings. Told a lot of jokes. Not that many clean ones. And after a while I kind of said to him, after about three years - you know, I'm not sure this is really for you. Maybe you should do something else. Because I don't think you're adding that much value to the board. You don't know that much about the company.

Rubenstein continued: "He said, 'Well, I think I'm getting out of this business anyway. And I don't really like it that much. So I'm probably going to resign from the board.' And I said, thanks - didn't think I'd ever see him again. His name is George W. Bush. He became President of the United States. So you know if you said to me, name 25 million people who would maybe be President of the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category. So you never know. Anyway, I haven't been invited to the White House for any things." ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[cui bono]

14. That's kind of funny in a sad kind of way. n/t

[Rex]

10. Of course they do.

The heart of the Beast.

[cosmicdot]

12. Carlyle has eyes and ears on the New York Times Board of Directors

in William Kennard

of course, they plant their 'managing directors' on many Boards

"William Kennard is currently a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. He is also a managing director with the Carlyle Group."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Kennard



and, Bill Clinton put him in charge of the FCC

go figure

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Does that mean the Orlando Sentinel too?

[helderheid]

15. VIDEO

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/helderheid/8

[treestar]

16. They don't own it already?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

19. k&r

[mhatrw]

20. The Carlyle Group Will Own The Cubs?

Say it ain't so, Joe!

[KamaAina]

25. Could be the best thing that ever happened to the Cubbies

Just wait 'til opposing teams' stars get arrested on trumped-up charges, to be released after the Cubs series, then as we head toward the postseason (dare to dream), watch for a rash of charter flight crashes... :tinfoilhat:

[Reader Rabbit]

28. Maybe that's a good thing.

Those Carlyle bastards can scoff at international laws and basic human decency, but there's no escaping THE CURSE. Maybe we should encourage this transaction—we could have Carlyle in the toilet within a couple of years!

[Hubert Flottz]

22. Hell they already own the voting machines don't they?

Or is that Halliburton...I get mixed up.

[spanone]

23. This is just frightening shit. Absolutely frightening.

[aquart]

24. I know enemy combatants when I see them.

Waterboard the bunch.

[thingfisher]

27. FCC regulations

were re-writtten and signed into law under the Clinton Administration (one contributor called it one of Clinton's biggest mistakes). I'm sorry but I don't think people like Clinton make "mistakes" like that. When they sign something into law they know why they are doing it.

Once upon a time the air waves were regarded as public property and lip service is still paid to that concept. In reality the air waves are another commodity up for bid to the rich and powerful. How can we expect a free press when such policies gaurantee that the media will be owned and controlled by powerful corporate interests.

Clinton's biggest mistake? or just the working out of a well thought out plan?

[mac56]

31. hunh?

I don't see the connection here.

Are you saying Clinton made it possible for Carlyle Group to do this?

Add on edit: And purposefully so?

[thingfisher]

34. Thr connection is

that it was the new regulations that allow monopolization of media outlets by one company. During the run up to the re-write there was a lot of discussion about the ramifications. Professor Mark Crispin Miller was especially erudite in his analysis and warnings about the domination of media markets by just a few companies.

I am not a big Clinton fan, unlike most of the people at DU (although he seems much more laudable in comparrison to the present occupant of the white house). My point is that if Clinton was the true progressive that he is painted as being he could have refused to sign the new FCC regs and sent the whole business back for further study with greater emphasis on the "public" ownership of the airwaves as was originally conceived.

I think we all agree that the open internet has been the best source of honest inquiry and debate in our country. I am fearful that future proposals for regulation and limitation will kill that function and put an even greater damper on the free flow of news and opinion.

[McCamy Taylor]

29. The LA Times has been the biggest critic of the Bush family in the US.

The Carlyle Group owns the Bush family. They are buying the LA Times to muzzle it.

The Tribune owns the LA Times illegally so they have to sell, since they also own an LA TV station. However, they rejected a bid by a buyer who was actually based in Calfornia. How on earth can they justify selling it to Saudi Royals?

[stepnw1f]

30. Take Down the Monopolies People!!!

They are the greatest dangers to our economy, our democracy and our society! No company should ever have this much power and influence on people anywhere.

[mom cat]

32. Do not give one more penny to tainted media. Do not pay for your own

executioner.