MELBOURNE, May 19 (Reuters) - U.S. buyout firm TPG Capital Management TPG.UL on Friday said it would make a commitment to editorial independence if it succeeded in its A$2.76 billion ($2.05 billion) offer for Australia's oldest newspaper publisher, Fairfax Media Ltd FXJ.AX .
"I am here to assure you that, in the event TPG and its partners are fortunate enough to acquire Fairfax, we will be responsible stewards of those assets, from a journalistic perspective as well as a financial one," TPG Head of Australia and New Zealand Joel Thickens told a senate inquiry into the future of public interest journalism.
His comments came a day after a second U.S. private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman, made a takeover proposal for Fairfax worth as much as A$2.87 billion. Both suitors have been offered access to due diligence. ($1 = 1.3479 Australian dollars)