(Adds shareholder vote percentage)

By Robert MacMillan and Kenneth Li

NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - New York Times Co (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. told shareholders on Tuesday the company is not for sale, rejecting speculation a prolonged newspaper industry slump made it vulnerable to a takeover.

"This company is not for sale," he said at the Times' annual shareholder meeting, calling recent media reports suggesting otherwise "ill-informed."

Speculation over a sale of the publisher of the namesake paper, as well as the Boston Globe and About.com, has dogged the company for years.

Media interest in the idea has been resurrected as its stock shed close to 20 percent in the last year and its flagship Times faces new competition in U.S. political news from a Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of the Bloomberg LLC financial news and data service to consider, has been cited as a potential suitor.

Newsweek reported this week that his close associates have urged him to consider a bid, but Bloomberg shot down that idea on Monday.

"I am not going to go into the newspaper business," Bloomberg told reporters when asked about the Times.