By Tom Lowry and Michael Calderone

The owner of the troubled Los Angeles Times, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, is still intent on taking the once-storied newspaper public, but he’s starting with a trial balloon. On Oct. 10, Soon-Shiong began circulating a private placement solicitation asking investors to buy as much as $500 million in private stock.

The plan then is to take the Los Angeles Times public next fall on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LAT.”