Oct. 14, 2009 (United Press International) -- The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) has decided against selling The Boston Globe, the Times reported Wednesday.
The Times said the company did not think bids it had received were high enough to justify the sale.
The company had said this year it might close the Globe, which was on a pace to lose $85 million in 2009.
The company had been considering selling the Globe and the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette and is still considering options for the Worcester paper, the Globe reported.
In a memo to employees Wednesday, the Globe reported, Times Co. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Chief Executive Janet Robinson said the Globe's finances had improved after cost-cutting that included new union contracts that saved $20 million and consolidation of printing plants.
"With these strategic steps, the Globe is on track to achieve substantial savings and is on a path to a more secure financial future," Sulzberger and Robinson wrote.
"We know this has been a long and painful process, and we deeply appreciate the focus and dedication that you have all displayed over the past several months," they wrote.
Two groups had bid for the Globe and the T&G, the Globe reported. One was led by former Globe executive Stephen Taylor, a member of the family that sold the Globe to the Times Co. in 1993. The other was Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills, Calif., firm that owns the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Globe said the final bids were unknown, but in a preliminary round, each group had offered about $35 million and assumption of pension liabilities.
