Two billionaire businessmen from Southern California submitted a joint bid on Wednesday to buy the Tribune Co. (TRB), according to reports.

Eli Broad, a construction and investment services magnate, along with Ron Burkle, who made his fortune in supermarket chains did not release specific details about the bid. The Tribune media empire they are bidding for includes various offline publications, broadcast outlets, Internet properties and the Chicago Cubs baseball team worth an estimated $8 billion.

The Chicago-based media firm has recently encountered difficulties with its largest shareholder, the Chandler Trust. The company's share price has lost nearly half of its value since early 2004. In September, the firm announced that it would examine several strategies including the possible sale of some or all of the company.

The bid from the billionaires came as Dean Baquet, the top editor at the Tribune-owned Los Angeles Times resigned after refusing to comply with management demands to make newsroom job cuts. He was replaced by James O'Shea, the managing editor of the Chicago Tribune

Tribune shares were down 27 cents, or 0.83 percent to close at $32.21 in Thursday trading at the New York Stock Exchange.