Harbinger Offloads Stake

Recently, Harbinger Capital Partners, one of the largest investors in The New York Times Company (NYT - Analyst Report), offloaded a chunk of its stake in the company.

The investment firm sold about 5 million shares at $8.25 per share, fetching $41.3 million in total. This reduces its ownership interest to 16.38% from 19.94%. The shares of New York Times surpassed the selling price and closed at $8.37 on Tuesday, up 2.6% from the previous day’s session. Harbinger made it clear that it has no intention to shed its entire stake.

Harbinger Capital started purchasing The New York Times shares nearly two years ago, at prices ranging between $15 and $20 a share, and investing approximately $500 million in aggregate. The firm incurred a significant loss by selling shares at $8.25 each.

The investment firm was looking for a strategic buyer to sell its shares in The New York Times. Earlier in May 2009, the media tycoon David Geffen showed interest to acquire the shares at market price. However, the investment firm for want of premium turned down the request, as the price was too low.

The newspaper industry has been reeling under the current turbulent environment, registering plunging advertising revenue, and The New York Times is no exception. The shares of the company reached as low as $3.51 early this year.

Since then The New York Times’ shares have regained their hold, with advertising market showing some signs of improvement. The company operates as a diversified media company in the United States , and publishes The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune and 15 other dailies along with its flagship newspaper.

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