Landmark to be sold?

The Virginian Pilot is reporting that Landmark Communications, the Pilot’s parent company, may be sold. Landmark is privately owned and boasts among its assets The Weather Channel, which The New York Times says is worth some $5 billion.

I doubt if Landmark is just “looking into” a sale, as the Pilot headline indicates.

“I can confirm that Landmark Communications has retained investment banks JPMorgan and Lehman Brothers to assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company’s businesses,” said Richard F. Barry III, vice chairman of the company.

One does not hire two major investment banks if they are just “looking.”

This could be a huge shift in that the local newspaper could end up in the hands of a company with no ties to the area. That would be unfortunate, because as bad as the Pilot can be at times, at least we know that the owners have our local interests at heart. And if you think the ads and tabloid-style headlines are annoying, just wait until some out-of-town company tries to milk the value of the paper to pay for its acquisition cost.

Perhaps some local consortium of folks can come together and buy the Pilot to keep it local. But given the nature of the newspaper business, with its competition from so many other areas, that’s more of a wish than anything.

This is going to be an interesting story to watch.

Technorati Tags: Landmark Communications, The Weather Channel, The Virginian Pilot