Carlos Slim boosts New York Times stake with options

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has boosted his stake in the New York Times, exercising an option to convert some $100 million from loans to equity, the media company said Wednesday.

A statement from New York Times Co. said Slim ― estimated to be the world’s second richest individual ― has agreed to exercise an option to buy 15.9 million Class A shares at $6.35.

That gives him around 16.8 percent of the Times Co. common stock. But control of the newspaper will remain with the Sulzberger family, which holds the bulk of Class B shares, with greater voting rights.

Slim in 2009 agreed to a $250 million loan to the Times, which has been struggling to remain profitable amid the media industry’s shift to digital.

The company said it would use cash proceeds of $101.1 million “to repurchase Class A shares from time to time in open market transactions as conditions permit.”

“We believe a share repurchase program in this instance is an appropriate use of the cash proceeds,” said Mark Thompson, president and chief executive officer.

“We believe it is in the best interests of the company to continue to maintain a conservative balance sheet and a prudent view on the allocation of free cash flow, and this one-off repurchase program should not be viewed as a change of position about our capital allocation plans.”

In October, the publisher of the prestigious U.S. daily said it narrowed its losses from the same period a year ago, while touting progress in its transition to a digital news operation. The loss of $12.5 million in the third quarter compared with a deficit of $24.2 million a year earlier, while revenues edged up one percent to $206.7 million.

Forbes magazine estimates Slim’s net worth at around $73 billion, second only to Bill Gates, worth some $80 billion.