Tribune Picks Rickett's Bid

The Sun-Times yet again scoops the Tribune on their own business affairs. Although heavily rumored for some time, there's now the infamous "person familiar with the process" going forward with Thomas Rickett - diehard Cub fan - as being the Tribune's bid of choice. The bid is rumored to be in the $900 million range and supposedly not the top overall offer, but would provide more money up front to the struggling Tribune corporation along with a more conservative financing approach. But there's always a twist... Tribune is not locked in to negotiate only with one bidder. Others remain free to enrich their offers. It's probably doubtful that anyone else will come in with a late bid at this stage of the game, and with local ties to Chicago, Rickett would certainly appease the major league owners. But this sale has dragged on for this long, there's no guarantees that it won't drag out longer.