Norfolk-based Landmark Communications Inc., the parent company of The Weather Channel, The Roanoke Times and other Southeastern media holdings, announced on Thursday the possible sale of the company’s businesses.
Richard Barry, a Landmark board member, told the Herald Courier the company is considering all its options.
"We are considering the sale of some or all of our properties," he said late Thursday afternoon.
Barry declined to say why with a comment: "We’ll get into all that in the near future."
Landmark has retained investment banks J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers to assist in exploring strategic alternatives.
"At this early stage, we cannot speculate on where this process will lead," Frank Batten Jr., Landmark chairman and CEO, said in a statement Thursday morning. "We will consider various options and, at the end, we will advise employees and customers of our conclusions."
Landmark is a privately held company with interests in cable programming, newspapers, broadcasting, specialty classified advertising products, interactive marketing, broadband and data services.
Batten said Landmark’s businesses "all have leading positions in their markets and have strong growth opportunities."
Richmond-based Media General owns more daily newspapers in the Southeast than any other company.
Media General’s holdings – which locally includes the Bristol Herald Courier, WJHL News Channel 11 in Johnson City, Tenn., and TriCities.com – are situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations and interactive media.
Speculation is the company could have its sights set on Landmark properties, but those considerations won’t be made public at this time.
"Media General doesn’t comment on any prospective acquisitions, and we would not comment on the purchase of any media outlet until the appropriate time," said Ray Kozakewicz, Media General corporate communications manager.
Landmark’s 2006 sales figures were $1.75 billion, and the company employs about 12,000 people.
The Weather Channel, based in Atlanta, is one of the last privately owned cable channels in the United States, and Landmark has been known in the past to brush away offers for it.
In an interview with The New York Times in June, Debora Wilson, The Weather Channel’s chief executive, said, "Every media conglomeration has approached Landmark, and there’s never been a yes."
With its Web site, weather.com, The Weather Channel and its related properties could bring more than $5 billion alone, a media insider has predicted.
Frank Batten Sr. was instrumental in building the company since becoming its head in 1954. He stepped down as chairman in 1998, passing the reins to his son, Frank Batten Jr.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
ggray@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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