Sun-Times sale to Tyree group complete

The sale of the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times was completed Monday, as a local group of investors led by investment banker James Tyree became the newspaper's new owners.

It marks the fourth time the Sun-Times has been sold in its 61-year history, which started with its founding by Marshall Field III. The sale, valued at $26.5 million, includes the company's seven other suburban daily and 51 weekly newspapers.

Under a deal approved Oct. 8. in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Tyree and his partners acquired Sun-Times Media Group Inc. for $5 million cash and the assumption of $21.5 million in liabilities.

The Tyree group will control the company through a partnership called Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC. Tyree, chairman of Mesirow Financial, has named 10 co-investors, all either Mesirow executives or clients.

"Our investor team believes there is tremendous opportunity and untapped potential in the Sun-Times Media portfolio of newspapers and Web sites, which combined serve an impressive 3.7 million readers each week, more than any of our competitors," Tyree said. "We are proud that these distinguished newspaper titles will be locally owned and locally managed." Tyree has retained most of the company's top managers, including Jeremy Halbreich, who was chairman of the outgoing corporate owners. Halbreich will be chief executive officer and vice chairman of Sun-Times Media Holdings.

Halbreich called the sale "a new beginning and a great day for our advertisers, readers and employees." Tyree faces a challenge in reversing a slide in advertising revenue that has affected newspaper publishers nationwide. In the case of the Sun-Times, financial losses pushed the old company close to insolvency because a liability to the Internal Revenue Service prevented it from getting additional credit.

The bankruptcy-brokered sale clears the company of debt. Tyree said his partnership will invest capital into the newspapers to improve their competitive standing.

He said the papers will continue as "high-quality, high-integrity" publications that emphasize local content.

"On the business side, our intentions are to grow the company by seeking new revenue opportunities, to adapt and lead change in the rapidly transforming news industry, and to become profitable," Tyree said.

Tyree's partners are: businessman Kevin Flynn; real estate executives Andrew Agostini, Ed Heil and Ed Ross; insurance executive William Parrillo; his brother, attorney Robert Parrillo; Chicago Blackhawks owner and property and liquor magnate W. Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz; and Mesirow executives Michael Mackey, Richard Price and Bruce Young.

"We are pleased to have been able to find new ownership and new investment in our award-winning, highly regarded publications, many of which have been serving their communities for decades and some even more than a century," Halbreich said. "We look forward to a long, prosperous future with our new owners."