By Robert MacMillan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Times Co. (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) investors should not expect the Sulzberger family to change the way it runs the company despite pressure to scrap its dual-class share structure, a close adviser to the publisher said on Wednesday.
"There's no possibility of it changing," Quadrangle Group managing principal Steven Rattner told the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit. "I don't think this is a situation where you're going to find some surprise ending to the story."
Rattner's comments came amid speculation that private equity buyers are circling the struggling company under pressure from a big shareholder to shake up the media group.
Rattner, a longtime adviser to the paper, said the dual structure does not prohibit an investor from taking a stake in the company, but added that the company has no interest in going private.
"The Times has been clear about their interest in going private. It doesn't appear to be particularly attractive," he said, adding such a deal would only create a new set of problems.
Two influential proxy advisory firms have recommended Times' shareholders withhold their votes from a slate of board directors at an April 24 annual meeting.
The Ochs-Sulzberger family, led by company Chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., is the main holder of New York Times Class B shares, allowing them to choose 9 of 13 directors. Class A shareholders elect the rest of the board.
Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis & Co. have criticized the Times' structure as contributing to poor performance and demanded a separation of the roles of chairman and publisher. Continued...
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