Dealer Ernie Boch ponders bid for Boston Globe
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“Companies like this don't often come on the market. I'm just interested in investigating,” Boch said. |
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Editor's note: Ernie Boch is 55 years old. His age was incorrect in earlier versions of this story.
Boston car dealer Ernie Boch Jr. is considering buying The Boston Globe.
Boch, CEO of Boch Enterprises and Subaru of New England, is joining forces with Bruce Mittman, CEO of marketing agency Mittcom and a partner of Community Broadcasters in Watertown, N.Y., to make a play for the paper, which is owned by The New York Times Co.
Boch, who called the Globe an "institution," said the process is still in the preliminary stages.
He said it's too soon to talk about potential offers.
Boch Automotive Dealerships has Toyota, Scion, Honda, Ferrari and Maserati stores in New England. Subaru of New England is a Subaru distributorship. Ernie Boch Jr. took charge when his father died in 2003.
"Companies like this don't often come on the market. I'm just interested in investigating," said Boch, 55, in an interview Monday.
The parent company of The New York Times is looking to sell the Globe and other New England properties so it can "focus energy and resources on its flagship newspaper," The New York Times reported last week. The Times' parent bought the Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993.
The Globe is worth an estimated $150 to $175 million, according to a report published by the Times.
Boch's spokeswoman said in a statement that Boch and Mittman have the financial resources and decades of experience in media and marketing necessary to make the Globe purchase viable.
"I feel I have the recipe that will let it have the ability to thrive. Over the last few years, it's lost its way. I feel I have the recipe to bring something to the table," Boch said.
"A lot of people say print is dead, but I don't believe that. That's not the only part of the Globe. There's an online presence. The Globe is more than a physical newspaper."
You can reach Vince Bond Jr. at vbond@crain.com. -- Follow Vince on 
