Request denied in Tribune case

A federal judge on Thursday denied a request to speed up court proceedings to determine if the new owners of the Salt Lake Tribune will ultimately be allowed to question the newspaper's former managers about the state of their finances.

MediaNews Group Inc. asked U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart earlier this week to allow for expedited briefing on the matter, presumably so the issue would be ripe for discussion at a two-day motion hearing on June 25 and 26.

MediaNews has asked Stewart to re-examine U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba's ruling denying its original motion to reopen discovery in the 2-year-old case to determine if former managers have the financial wherewithal to purchase the newspaper.

Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. seeks to exercise a 1997 option agreement and purchase the Tribune from MediaNews, which bought the paper from AT&T in January 2001 for $200 million.

Even if SLTPC succeeds at trial this fall, MediaNews contends the management company does not have enough money to pay fair market value for the Tribune.

Appraisals on the newspaper have come in at $218 million and $395 million. The parties are awaiting a final report from a third appraiser, New Jersey-based Management Planning Inc., to reach a final value. SLTPC lost its legal challenge to Management Planning's draft appraisal, which came in at $325 million, in a New Jersey state court.

Sale of the Salt Lake Tribune - Read Deseret News' archive stories and see related links about the sale of the Tribune.