How Bloomberg could buy the NY Times

Henry Blodget of Business Insider writes about how Michael Bloomberg could add the New York Times to his media empire.

Blodget writes, “As cheery a picture as New York Times leaders paint of their digital future, the truth is that the next 5-10 years are going to be tough. More loss of print ads, more cost cuts, more painful restructurings required to fit the New York Times print cost structure into the new digital world. No one really wants to go through that if they don’t have to.

“So, Bloomberg should just make a pre-emptive, public all-cash offer for the New York Times Company.

“Bloomberg could offer, say, $5 billion, or $35 a share.

“That is vastly more than the New York Times Company is worth.

“And almost all shareholders of the company would instantly recognize that.

“The New York Times Company stock price would instantly double, to $25 or so.

“Immediately, everyone who owned New York Times stock, including members of the Sulzberger family, would double their wealth overnight. They would recognize that if the company rejected the offer that they might soon be immediately impoverished again. They might also recognize that this might be the best offer they might ever get. And, if Bloomberg took another page out of Murdoch’s book and soothed the family with visions of a glorious future for their cherished paper, they might see a graceful, magnanimous way out.  And the infighting would begin.”