It looks like Tim and Nina Zagat are nearing a deal to sell their guidebook company, which they put on the block in January and value at around $200 million. The dining duo, currently expanding their business into China, were set to depart for the Far East on April 16 but put off the trip to deal with negotiations, which could lead to a deal by June. The Zagats are marketing their business as a media company with global content, and one unexpected suitor is CBS, drawn by the brand and its online content; the couple squeezed in an extended business lunch with CBS chief Les Moonves at Le Bernardin the day before their planned departure. “They had a very nice lunch,” says a CBS spokesman.
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