3 Bidders for the Globe: Who Are They?

Evidently, newspapers still appeal to your average tycoon as a potential trophy holding.

The Boston Globe reported Friday that at least three potential buyers are interested in purchasing the struggling Beantown daily from its struggling owner, the New York Times(NYT Quote).

According to the report, all three are currently running due diligence on the Globe and/or lining up funds and/or "mulling bids." All, too, are Bostonians of long standing, a condition thought to be a requirement for anyone considering stepping in to, in effect, save the 137-year old newspaper, among the more storied daily publications in the U.S. (And all three, of course, have declined to comment on their interest.)

A quick-and-dirty handicapping of the players, in order of their probable ability to muster the funds for such a purchase:

Steve Pagliuca, one of the major figures at the top of Bain Capital, the Boston private-equity behemoth. Part owner of local hoops icons, the Boston Celtics. Consummate Wall Street insider with access to loads of capital. Knows a thing or two about buying companies. (Though, as is the case with all buyout kings now, the credit-happy days of yore have come back to haunt certain huge take-privates they conducted at the peak of the boom.)

Jack Connors, a Boston area adman who helped sell his advertising firm for $115 million a few years ago and is reportedly worth half a billion dollars. Chairman of the nonprofit hospital group, Partners HealthCare, he's mostly a philanthropist these days. Has plenty of time (and money) on his hands. Understands the ad business, and also has shown documented interest: he raised the prospect of buying the Globe three years ago.