The New York Times Co received multiple bids for the auction of The Boston Globe. This was according to a source familiar with the deal.

A number of bids were not immediately announced by the deadline at 5 p.m. EDT. However, the daily newspaper would get less than 10% from the US$1.1 billion price that it paid for The Boston Globe about 20 years ago.

This is the second time that The New York Times put the paper on the block. Its smaller sister publication, Worcester Telegram & Gazette was also put up for auction. According to analysts, the daily paper could get an estimated US$100 million for the two publications. In 1993, The New York Times bought the Globe from the Taylor family for U$1.1 billion. In 2000, it bought the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for around US$300 million.

The New York Times planned to direct its focus on its flagship newspaper making it sell its other publication units, Internet assets and stakes in sports franchises.