Newspaper baron William Dean Singleton, head of the privately held MediaNews Group, thinks that the business is in far better shape that Wall Street believes, reports Phil Rosenthal in the
Chicago Tribune. He also had high praise for Tribune Co. CEO Dennis FitzSimons' plan to borrow billions to buy back stock, describing it as "brilliant." That idea faces some strong opposition
from the company's No. 2 shareholder, the Chandler family--who have floated the idea of breaking up and/or selling the Chicago-based media giant--among others. "He's got a solid plan--he's got the
board behind him, and this too will pass," Singleton says. "Plus, you can't spin off assets because the tax bill is just horrendous. That's just people dreaming. It's not going to happen." And he
thinks Tribune is getting a bargain: "They're buying back their stock for 7.9 times cash flow or something? That's a good buy," he says. "I'm out paying 12 times [cash flow] to buy newspaper assets. I
wish I could buy them for 7.9, but I can't."
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