The New York Times Company hired Goldman Sachs to explore a potential sale of its 17.75 per cent stake in MLB franchise the Boston Red Sox.
The Times Company said that, faced with the credit cruch, it had put up for sale its 17.75 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures, which owns the rights to the Red Sox baseball team, Fenway Park where the team plays its home games, and an 80 percent stake in New England Sports Network, a regional sports channel.
The Times Company said it had acquired the stake in 2002 for $75 million in a bid to diversify its holding. The Times company was involved in discussions late last year over the stake, but talks with interested parties failed to result in a deal.
But with the company reporting an 18 per cent fall in advertising sales and a near 50 per cent fall in net profit for the fourth quarter of 2008, it decided to sell the stake. According to reports in the UK’s financial Times, it hopes to raise some four times its initial investment from the sale.
