Virginian-Pilot parent company sells the Weather Channel
The Virginian-Pilot’s Phil Walzer reports today:
Landmark Communications Inc. of Norfolk has agreed to sell The Weather Channel Cos. to a consortium of NBC Universal and two private equity firms, the companies announced Sunday.
Neither Landmark nor NBC disclosed the price. But people close to the negotiations said NBC and its partners, Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group, offered about $3.5 billion.
This is important to us because it’s the first in a series of steps that will eventually result in the sale of Landmark’s newspapers, including The Virginian-Pilot, The Greensboro News & Record and The Roanoke Times. No word yet on all that.
Read it in the Pilot. Find a chronology of the Weather Channel here.
Read our previous coverage:
Jan. 2: The breakup of Landmark and sale of its assets is first announced.
Jan. 4: The Pilot’s owner confirms his intent to sell.
Jan. 11: Pat Robertson announces he wants to buy the Pilot.
Jan. 14: Tight-lipped Landmark execs cause Pilot staffers to get their own news from the wires. But the Pilot uses strong language in its news stories.
March 11: The request for bids goes out.
May 19: Arkansas-based chain said to be interested in buying The Virginian-Pilot.
May 31: Bids are reportedly in for the Weather Channel.
June 14: Weather Channel bids still up in the air.