Variety has reportedly slashed its asking price by more than 25 percent as the ailing Hollywood trade magazine's parent company courts two potential buyers.
Variety's current owner, Reed Elsevier, was also forced to offer "seller financing" to keep the publication's last two suitors — Jay Penske's Penske Media Corp. and Marc Lasry's Avenue Capital — in the auction, the New York Post reported.
Reed lowered the price of the 107-year-old publication by at least $10 million — to less than $30 million from the original $40 million.
Also read: Avenue Capital Said to Be Near Deal to Buy Variety
The magazine has been on sale since March and has received lukewarm interest from a shrinking list of potential buyers.
Penske's PMC, which owns Deadline Hollywood, MovieLine.com and a handful of other Los Angeles-based sites, could bring new prestige to the racing heir's eight-year-old media company based in Inglewood.
Lasry, a billionaire investor, is believed to have submitted a bid without a price tag in hopes of closing the deal soon.