Three Boston businessmen have been said to be interested in the purchase of the Boston Globe, Boston.com reported Thursday.

Just one day after owner The New York Times Co. hired Goldman Sachs, to oversee the potential sale of the paper, sources close to group told the Boston Globe that Stephen Pagliuca, a Boston Celtics co-owner; Jack Connors, co-founder of a major advertising firm and chairman of Partners HealthCare; and Stephen Taylor, former Globe executive and part of the family that owned the Globe before the Times Co. bought it in 1993, are all potential buyers of the newspaper.

The anonymous sources said each group is reviewing the financial situation of the Globe and looking for investors to help finance the purchase.

The Washington Post also announced another potential buyer, Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., in an article on Thursday. The company confirmed its interest in the paper to The Post, saying the Globe "fits its investment profile and that is has been pursuing a purchase for about 10 weeks."

The investment management company added that it, "is interested in any good investment that offers superior returns for our investors, as well as opportunities for job preservation, and even job growth, for our union investors."

The Boston Globe's largest union on Monday rejected the proposed US$10 million wage and benefit cuts proffered by owner New York Times Co., which later announced, as a consequence of the failed negotiations, a 23 percent pay cut for all Guild union members beginning next week, Boston.com, the Globe's Web site, reported Monday.

The pay cut could quickly transfer the disagreement to the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts. The Boston Newspaper Guild, representative of almost 700 editorial, advertising, and business office staff, said it would file for unfair labor practice and hope to block the pay cut with a court order.

Globe management expressed disappointment in the vote, stressing the company could not avoid the extensive cost savings sought from the newspaper's largest union.

"As we have stated, the $10 million in cost savings from this multifaceted proposal is essential to The Boston Globe's financial future," Globe spokesman Robert Powers said, according to Boston.com. "We regret having to take this action, but have no financially viable alternative."

Members of the Boston Newspaper Guild, the Boston Globe's largest union, will receive more information tonight on the agreement made with parent company the New York Times Co. to cut US$10 million, the Boston Globe reported today. The tentative deal will create savings by making "deep wage cuts, freeze pensions for many employees, and essentially eliminate the lifetime job guarantees held by veteran employees," the article stated. Guild members will vote on the Times Co.'s offer in what is expected to be "a difficult ratification process."

The agreement to present the company's final offer to union members for a vote was reached on early Wednesday morning. If passed, it will yield half the $20 million in savings required by the Times Co. to allow the paper to remain open. A majority of the cuts were directed toward the Guild because it is the largest of the Globe's seven unions, representing 600 newsroom employees. The Globe was encouraged to grant these concessions under threat of closure, Market Watch reported.

The New York Times Co. did not follow through with threats to notify federal authorities of plans to close the Boston Globe, as an agreement has been reached with six of the Globe's seven unions. The Times Co. and the Boston Newspaper Guild will begin negotiating once more, but no time has been set for an agreement, the Washington Post reported today. The Times Co. is asking for US$20 million in savings, half from the Newspaper Guild.

At just before midnight last night, the original deadline, the Times Co. announced it would file the 60-day shutdown plan, under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law. However, union negotiations went on until 8 a.m. today, when most of the unions reached deals.
The concessions would come primarily from the Newspaper Guild at $10 million, as it is the paper's largest union, representing 600 newsroom employees. Mailers are being asked to give up $5 million, drivers $2.5 million and the pressmen $2.2 million. The company has also sought to eliminate job security measures for staff, removing seniority based redundancy rules and lifetime job guarantees, according to the Washington Post.

Negotiation were recently strained when a Times Co. accounting error was uncovered, requiring an additional $4 million in concessions from the Newspaper Guild.