CUBS EXPECTED TO FETCH $1 BILLION IN 2008

The Cubs have announced that they expect to complete the sale of the team in the first half of 2008 and plan to use the proceeds to pay down some debt and complete the $8.2 billion buyout from Chicago billionaire Sam Zell.

From Reuters via MSNBC:

Publisher and broadcaster Tribune Co said on Wednesday it now expects to complete the sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, Wrigley Field and other assets in the first half of 2008.

Analysts believe the assets, which include a stake in sports cable TV network [Comcast] SportsNet Chicago, could attract bids topping $1 billion.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE SOLD TO SAM ZELL

From ChicagoTribune.com:

After an epic corporate drama, Chicago's Tribune Co. sold itself in a deal that puts the 159-year-old media conglomerate in the hands of the city's most iconoclastic entrepreneur, setting up a high-stakes bet that a pillar of the nation's old-media establishment can tug itself into the digital future without toppling over.

Early Monday, following a weekend of heated negotiations, the company's board accepted a revised $34-dollar-a-share proposal from Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell to take the company private in a complex, $8.2 billion deal structured around an employee stock ownership plan.

In addition, the Tribune said it intends to sell the Chicago Cubs and its 25 percent stake in local sports cable channel Comcast SportsNet Chicago.