It appears almost a fait accompli that Fairfax Media is now in play. How the giant private equity group TPG, which has reportedly acquired just under 5 per cent of the company's shares, runs the process or deals with the assets is yet unclear.
But whether TPG successfully gets control of Fairfax or it stays under its current ownership, it seems likely that the company will get split into at least two pieces and probably more.
It's no secret that TPG has been keen to get their hands on Fairfax's digital property business Domain. In a financial sense it has been the jewel in the crown as its revenues are on the rise while revenues from traditional print businesses have been in decline.
Last month Fairfax revealed it was working on plans to spin off Domain into a separately listed company, of which it would retain majority control. The move provided a fillip for the media company's share price, in part because it would see the market more accurately reflect the value of Domain. Analysts suggest Domain is worth about $2 billion - the majority of Fairfax's current $2.5 billion stock market value.
If one assumes TPG (or a consortium involving TPG) is only interested in the Domain business - and incidentally most take this view - then in the question remains how will it deal with the rest.
(TPG has been reportedly seeking out partners for the Fairfax play.)
The remainder of Fairfax is worth more than half a billion dollars, so one assumes that TPG would be looking at creating the 'sum of the parts' valuation.
One of Fairfax's largest shareholders - which has not received an approach from TPG - reckons the company is worth $1.50 a share and would be unwilling or reluctant to sell for less. He said that if TPG was serious, it had already missed a lot of the re-rating the shares have experienced since November when the share price was sitting around 80 cents. It hit $1.09 on Wednesday, its highest point since 2011.
If selling or spinning the Fairfax assets is what a financial raider has in mind, in many respects its playbook is not that far removed from the one employed by the Fairfax board.
The company has gone some way to dealing with its various assets. For example, Fairfax New Zealand is in the process of attempting to merge with NZME, which owns the New Zealand Herald.
Meanwhile, Fairfax's radio assets are housed in a separately listed company after their merger a few years back with John Singleton's Macquarie Network. This would now be an easy asset to dispose of.
Last year Fairfax talked about considering its options for the regional newspaper business. And although little has been said since, it has clearly been given some thought.
The video streaming venture Stan, which is not yet profitable but is said to be increasing in value with a good flow of new subscribers, could be sold. The obvious buyer would be Fairfax's joint venture partner, Nine Entertainment, assuming the two parties could agree on price.
This leaves any new buyer the task of dealing with the elephant in the room - the big mass market news mastheads, firstly the metropolitan newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, plus Fairfax's national title the Australian Financial Review and their websites.
Under the current stewardship Fairfax has undertaken a radical cost cutting exercise over the past five years, which is likely to become more rather than less severe over coming years as it chases down even more challenging revenue conditions, notwithstanding efforts to raise digital revenue.
To excise the Financial Review from the remainder may be possible if an international media company shows interest.
If TPG attempts to increase the profits from the print businesses - which still generate a tidy cash flow - it could take a bigger axe to the cost base, and boost short-term performance.
But such a move would inflict longer-term damage on the print brands.
