Tribune Co., owner of newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and baseball team the Chicago Cubs, agreed back in April to be taken private for $34 a share. So why’s the stock currently trading under $26? 

Investors have lately seemed as nervy about this deal as Cubs fans before a big game.  

Monday saw Tribune’s shares sink to the lowest point since the deal got announced — falling 2.7 percent to $25.77.  The company is being taken private is a two-part deal, the first of which was a tender offer completed in May at $34 a share for 52 percent of the shares. The second stage, to buy out the remaining stock, is still to come.

“In general the tug-of-war is between the notion that all of the aspects of the deal were in place and that there would be nothing happening to prevent the remainder (of the deal) happening at $34 on schedule, versus the risk that something happened to change the ultimate closing of the deal,” said Barrington Research analyst James Goss.  ”It’s very possible some one could buy (the stock) right now and be very well rewarded,” Goss said. On the flip side, there’s a risk that terms of the deal could get renegotiated, he said. 

Hurdles still to vault include a shareholder vote next week and Federal Communications Commission approval.

Some analysts also have wondered whether Tribune will generate enough cash flow to meet a leverage-test detailed in its deal agreement, although the company has the flexibility to do more asset disposals on top of its planned sale of the Cubs.