Sale of Boston Globe to Red Sox owner is finalized

BOSTON (AP) - The New York Times Co. sale of The Boston Globe to businessman and principal Boston Red Sox owner John Henry was finalized Thursday.

Henry paid $70 million in cash for the New England Media Group, which includes the Globe and the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, along with websites for both papers and the Globe's direct mail marketing company, the Times Co. said. The price is a big drop from the $1.1 billion the New York Times Co. paid for the Globe 20 years ago.

The deal for Henry to buy the 141-year-old paper was announced in August. The New York Times Co. put the Globe up for sale in February, four years after calling off a previous attempt to sell it. The company's CEO said at the time that selling the Globe would help it focus attention on The New York Times brand.

The deal was briefly held up by a restraining order in a lawsuit by former adult carries against the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester. That order was lifted Thursday.

The New York Times Co. said it plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes.

The announcement came as the Red Sox prepared to play in Game 2 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Globe editor Brian McGrory said in August that the sale would not affect the newspaper's Red Sox coverage or its editorial decisions.

Henry, who also owns the English Premier League soccer club Liverpool F.C., is the son of southern Illinois soybean farmers now worth an estimated $1.5 billion.

Cox Media Group