"John Henry says he will sell Telegram & Gazette" by Beth Healy | Globe Staff, November 26, 2013
A month after acquiring The Boston Globe and related New England news outlets from The New York Times Co., John W. Henry is looking to sell the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Henry announced his plans to employees in Worcester on Tuesday afternoon, saying he hoped to find a local buyer for the T&G and its website, but that no deal was imminent.
“I think it’s important for the Telegram & Gazette to be under local ownership,” Henry said at a gathering in the T&G newsroom Tuesday, the company reported on its website.
Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, bought the Globe, the Worcester paper, and both companies’ websites in October for $70 million. He published a letter in the Globe on Oct. 27 titled “Why I Bought the Globe,’’ in which he did not mention the T&G, fueling questions in Worcester about that newspaper’s future ownership.
At the Tuesday meeting, Henry also reportedly told the T&G staff he was looking for a buyer with a passion for the Worcester newspaper. “Just as the Globe should not be the little brother or sister to The New York Times, the Telegram should not be the little brother or sister of the Globe,” he said, according to the T&G report.
If he doesn’t find the right buyer, he told the T&G employees, “You’re stuck with me.”
The Times Co. bought the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in 2000 for $295 million, seven years after buying the Globe for $1.1 billion.
Possible bidders for the Worcester paper could include Ralph D. Crowley Jr., chief executive of Polar Beverage owner Polar Corp., a Worcester-based soda maker and bottling company. He tried to buy the T&G in 2009, when the Times Co. last tried to sell its New England media properties.
GateHouse Media Inc., owner of the Patriot Ledger of Quincy, is another potential buyer, the T&G reported.
Related: New owner cuts jobs at Cape Cod, New Bedford papers
Hey, as long as they pay good.
Also see: Cape Cod Fraud
And you wonder why I do not trust newspapers anymore?
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: John Henry a Hit With Globe
Is he a hit with you?
