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Publishing in Times Mirror’s share repurchase program and in
transactions involving the purchase of Times Mirror’s outstanding
debt securities.
During the period August 1 through December 31, 1998, Times
Mirror directed the LLC to purchase (1) approximately
13.3 million shares of Times Mirror for between $750 million and
$760 million and (2) interests in several Internet media
companies for approximately $9 million.
In a finance report presented to the Times Mirror board of
directors on February 4, 1999, the following statement appeared:
Resources-Background
In 1998, with the closing of the Matthew Bender, Mosby
and Shepards divestitures, we began what we expect will
be an extensive period of managing surplus capital. As
we have articulated in the past, our initial
responsibility is to manage this cash under a short-
term investment policy, which stresses preservation of
capital. This naturally results in returns
commensurate with the low tolerance for risk.
Ultimately, our planning challenge is to assess
realistically what the levels of spending might be in
the primary areas of priority, which we have
articulated before:
• Capital investments in existing businesses to
drive growth
• Acquisitions that enhance our existing lines of
business
• Dividends necessary to maintain a payout ratio
commensurate with our peer group average
• Consistent with long-term capitalization goals,
opportunistic stock repurchase
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