Black: U.S. Sales Completing in July

AP Online
05-11-2000
Black: U.S. Sales Completing in July

NEW YORK (AP) -- Conrad Black, chairman of Hollinger International, said he expects the sale his company's community newspapers to be completed within 10 weeks.

Speaking at his company's annual shareholder meeting in New York Thursday, Black said the company has received a ``great many'' expressions of interest from potential buyers for the properties.

``The responses have been encouraging so far,'' Black said. He declined to identify exactly which newspapers would be put on the block.

The Toronto-based Hollinger, which controls 60 percent of Canada's daily newspapers, announced two weeks ago that it would put up for sale about 300 daily and weekly newspapers in Canada and 50 in the United States, all with less than 50,000 circulation.

Black said that about 60 percent of the proceeds from the sale would be used to pay down debt and the rest to buy back the company's stock. Hollinger has retained Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to coordinate the sales.

Black also said he has seen no downward pressure on the circulation of the company's newspapers because of the Internet. He declined to disclose details of the company's Internet operations, but said Hollinger's investments so far have totaled $65 million in venture stakes and about $23 million to $25 million in Internet-related operations in its own newspapers.

Hollinger publishes Canada's National Post, the Jerusalem Post, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

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