The Los Angeles Times Media Group has opened a Series A convertible preferred stock private placement to qualified investors, aiming to complete a private sale before advancing to a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, with the proposed ticker symbol LAT.

The base size of this round is 50,000 shares at $5,000 per share, totaling $250 million, with the company able to increase it to 100,000 shares, capping at $500 million; the minimum subscription is one share at $5,000, open only to qualified investors as defined by U.S. securities law, and is not a public offering. The preferred shares target an annual interest rate of 7%, continuing until the listing; before the listing, they will automatically convert to Class A common stock at a conversion price set at a 25% discount to the future IPO price.

The new entity combines the newspaper founded in 1881, the Los Angeles Times studio, NantStudios virtual production, and NantGames esports into a single content platform. In 2018, Patrick Soon-Shiong acquired the Los Angeles Times and other California assets from Tronc for $500 million in cash plus assuming about $90 million in pension liabilities; the fundraising documents state that he has invested approximately $750 million since taking over, for the El Segundo headquarters, virtual studios, podcasts, news studios, and the Graphene content system.

Unaudited financials show projected revenue of about $237.6 million for fiscal year 2024, with a pre-tax net loss of about $48.08 million, an operating loss of about $41.79 million, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of about $25.46 million; for the first half of 2025, projected revenue is about $127.2 million, with a pre-tax loss of about $21.46 million. In 2024, print circulation revenue is $92.58 million, and print advertising is $35.57 million, together exceeding half of total revenue, while digital advertising is $24.49 million and digital subscriptions are $31.55 million; the total number of paid users for print and digital is about 500,000, with approximately 615 full-time employees. As of the end of June 2025, total liabilities are about $301 million, and shareholder deficit is about $209 million.

Nant Capital plans to convert up to $100 million of convertible debt owed to the group into up to 20,000 preferred shares at the price of $5,000 per share. The underwriting agent is Digital Offering, which previously managed the private placement and Reg A listing for Newsmax, charging about $300 per share for the private placement; the documents specify that no public offering underwriter has been locked in yet, and the NYSE listing is not a condition for this round of closing, with the ticker symbol LAT reserved only. In terms of control design, Soon-Shiong still holds voting shares, while preferred shareholders receive dividends, discounted conversion rights, and registration rights without transferring voting control.

In market mechanics, buyers are qualified individuals and institutions, while sellers are the loss-making newspaper and studio bundled together; the funding event is driven by the need to supplement operations, repay debts, and expand studios and esports, rather than a mature profitable company expanding production. The 7% coupon and 25% discount are intended to compensate for liquidity freeze and listing uncertainty; the beneficiaries are the controlling shareholders and platforms needing external cash, while the pressured parties are the main news business suffering from declining print advertising and traffic diversion due to AI, as well as preferred shareholders who cannot exit during the lock-up period.

Source: Public Information