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Tribune Annual Meeting Held in Chicago
Shareholders Re-elect Three Directors
Sam
Zell Joins Board
Tribune Management and Values Awards
Presented
CHICAGO,
May 9, 2007 -- Tribune Company
(NYSE:TRB) held its annual meeting in Chicago today. Shareholders
re-elected Tribune board members Jeffrey Chandler, William
Osborn and Miles White to three-year terms and ratified
the choice of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company’s
independent accountants for 2007.
A shareholder proposal recommending the annual election
of board members received a majority of the shares voted;
the proposal was advisory and will now be considered by the
board.
Tribune’s independent directors were
recognized for their contributions during the last six months
when they served on the special committee that evaluated
strategic alternatives for the company. "Our independent
directors did an outstanding job," said Dennis FitzSimons,
Tribune chairman, president and chief executive officer.
"The committee’s work was rigorous, thorough
and enormously time-consuming. We offer these directors
special thanks for their efforts."
The review process concluded April 2 when Tribune announced
a transaction that will take the company private through
an Employee Stock Ownership Plan and an investment in Tribune
by Sam Zell, who was elected to the Tribune board at its
regular meeting held earlier today.
The first stage of the ESOP/Zell transaction includes the
stock tender offer launched April 25 to purchase up to 126
million common shares for $34 per share in cash. The tender
offer expires on May 24, unless extended.
"The outcome for Tribune shareholders
-- $34 per share in cash -- is a significant premium over
where the stock was trading in mid-March, just prior to the
announcement," FitzSimons
said. Shareholders will vote on the ESOP/Zell transaction
during the third quarter, and it is expected to close in
the fourth quarter, following regulatory approval.
As always, a portion of the annual meeting
was devoted to outstanding employee performances. Tribune’s 2007 Pulitzer
Prize winners from the Los Angeles Times and Newsday were
recognized, followed by the presentation of the annual Tribune
Management and Values Awards, the company’s highest
honors.
- The Tribune Management Award went to Larry Delia,
vice president/general manager of WGNO/WNOL-TV in New Orleans,
for his extraordinary leadership following the devastation
caused by Hurricane Katrina.
- The Tribune Values
Award went to the Chicago magazine team of Dick Babcock,
editor; Randy Hano, publisher; and Rich Gamble, director
of finance and operations, for creating a nationwide leader
in the city/regional magazine category through sales innovation,
editorial excellence and financial discipline.
Finally, in other business conducted
by the board, Jack Rodden was elected assistant treasurer.
Rodden joined Tribune in 2000 and most recently served
as director/treasury and risk management. In that role,
he was responsible for Tribune’s
day-to-day cash operations, debt issuance, and all cash,
debt and interest forecasting.
A replay of today’s annual meeting
webcast will be available at www.tribune.com.
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TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB) is one of the country’s
top media companies, operating businesses in publishing,
interactive and broadcasting. It reaches more than 80 percent
of U.S. households and is the only media organization with
newspapers, television stations and websites in the nation’s
top three markets. In publishing, Tribune’s leading
daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune,
Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.), The Sun (Baltimore), South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant. The
company’s broadcasting group operates 23 television
stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago’s
WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and
information websites complement Tribune’s print and
broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide
audience. |
