Newspaper company Tronc eyes buying TheStreet

Newspaper company Tronc is exploring whether to make an offer to purchase financial news company TheStreet.com, reports Keith Kelly of the New York Post.

Kelly writes, “Tronc had looked at TheStreet in the past, sources said, but Cramer’s 22-year-old operation was struggling at the time. TheStreet, in fact, was warned by Nasdaq in late 2016 that its stock could be delisted since its shares had traded below $1 for more than 30 days in a row.

“In addition, the last time Tronc came kicking the tires, TheStreet still had a prohibitively expensive block of $55 million in preferred stock from Technology Crossover Partners on its books.

“TCP in November 2017 converted its holdings to about $20 million in cash and 6 million shares of common stock, removing that big hurdle to any potential takeover.

“‘On the heels of announcing a majority investment in BestReviews.com, the Tronc execs are actively eyeing one high-profile business site and looking at several other potential buys,’ said Ken Doctor in his influential newsletter, Newsonomics. He declined to name the business site — but others were quick to point to TheStreet as the potential target.”

Read more here.