Tribune Tender Offer Completed

Tribune Co., which is buying Times Mirror Co., said Tuesday that it completed the first part of its acquisition of the publisher of the Los Angeles Times by buying 23.4 million Times Mirror shares at $95 each in a tender offer.

Tribune, which publishes the Chicago Tribune and owns television and radio stations, including KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles, had offered to buy as many as 28 million Times Mirror shares. The offer expired Monday. The 23.4 million shares represent about 40% of outstanding Times Mirror common shares.

After Tribune announced the completion of the tender offer, the shares of both companies rose. In New York Stock Exchange trading, Times Mirror shares gained $1.69 to close at $96.63 and Tribune shares added 88 cents to close at $39.44.

Tribune said last month that it would buy Times Mirror for $6.8 billion to create the third-largest U.S. newspaper chain by circulation. After the tender offer, each remaining Times Mirror share will be converted into 2.5 shares of Tribune common stock. Shareholders also can choose to receive $95 in cash for each share they own as long as the total number of Times Mirror shares that Tribune buys, including those bought in the tender offer, does not exceed 28 million.

In addition to The Times, Times Mirror publishes the Baltimore Sun, Newsday and the Hartford Courant, among others.

The combination is still subject to approval of both companies’ shareholders and must pass antitrust muster. Tribune expects to complete the acquisition in the second or third quarter of this year.