N.J. firm sets new valuation of Trib's worth

A New Jersey valuation firm Thursday issued its long-awaited, and much contested, final appraisal of the Salt Lake Tribune.

At $331 million, the value is $6 million more than the preliminary figure released by Management Planning Inc. six months ago. This final appraisal, when averaged with another appraisal by MediaNews, sets the fair market value of the paper at $355.5 million.

That price is central to the ongoing litigation over ownership of the Tribune. Former managers seek to exercise a 1997 option agreement and purchase the newspaper from MediaNews Group Inc.

MediaNews paid $200 million for the Tribune when it bought it from AT&T in January 2001.

Representatives from Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. (SLTPC) did not return calls for comment Thursday. However, they have previously vowed a legal challenge of the final appraisal.

"Even when MPI issues what purports to be a 'final' report, it is very likely that there will have to be substantial additional litigation before there is any ultimate binding determination of the amount Tribune Publishing is to pay at the closing of the option transaction," SLTPC attorneys wrote in a May 12 court filing.

SLTPC sued Management Planning in January over their preliminary appraised value of $325 million. In that suit, which was eventually dismissed by a New Jersey state judge, SLTPC alleged Management Planning failed to conform to professional appraisal standards in reaching its preliminary value and sought to prevent the issuance of Thursday's final report.

After the case was dismissed in April, SLTPC attorneys proposed a deal in which Management Planning would be replaced by a different appraisal firm. The suggestion was made through a letter to MediaNews attorney Kevin Baine and was later rejected.

In court documents in the New Jersey case, SLTPC admitted that a high price tag on the Tribune would make it "economically infeasible" for former managers to buy the paper and "perhaps impossible" to secure the necessary financing.

MediaNews attorneys have long contended that SLTPC does not have the financial wherewithal to buy the Tribune. In court documents filed Thursday, MediaNews argues that, with the issuance of the final appraisal, the time is right to revisit the issue.

U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba last month denied MediaNews the opportunity to reopen discovery in the 2 1/2-year-old case and question the principal owners of SLTPC about their financial situation.