One thing is becoming clear in the escalating fight between Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro: The newspaper company’s largest publication — the Los Angeles Times — is at the heart of their dispute. In the latest letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Tronc attorney Yosef Riemer accused Soon-Shiong and his representatives of working “to coerce the company into selling [Soon-Shiong] the Los Angeles Times. But the L.A. Times is not for sale.”The letter states that Soon-Shiong offered to buy The Times in December, but was rebuffed and told he must buy all of Tronc. Soon-Shiong’s attorney disputed that scenario, saying in a letter Thursday that it was Ferro who approached Soon-Shiong about a possible deal for the L.A. Times. In exchange for Soon-Shiong’s support of the deal, Ferro would persuade the board to grant one of Soon-Shiong’s companies 300,000 Tronc shares.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 07, 2017 00:22 UTC