A hedge fund that has a large stake in Tribune Publishing Co.
TPCO 0.31%
is trying to buy the newspaper network behind titles like the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News, according to people familiar with the matter.
Alden Global Capital LLC, which is already the largest shareholder in Tribune with a 32% stake, could release an offer for the company as early as Thursday, people said. We were unable to discover the details of the potential bid.
The Tribune has a market value of around $ 470 million, after falling for a year while the outlook for local newspapers has dwindled. Its stock has barely changed this year and closed Wednesday at $ 12.79.
An agreement would have far-reaching implications for an industry affected by sharp declines in revenues over the past 20 years, which have led to a wave of consolidation and cost cuts. Between 2008 and 2019, the industry cut 51% of jobs in the newsroom, according to the Pew Research Center.
Tribune Publishing, one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains in circulation, publishes nine large-market daily newspapers, including Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant.
Alden controls the MediaNews Group, a private company that owns about 60 daily newspapers across the country, including the Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News and Orange County Register. The hedge fund has a reputation for making deep cuts in the costs of the securities it acquires.
In July, Alden cemented a firmer position on the Tribune’s board, taking control of a third seat out of seven in exchange for an agreement to extend a standstill agreement that prevents the hedge fund from increasing its stake or making a hostile bid until after June 2021.
Consequently, any business to increase participation would likely need approval from Tribune or a significant portion of shareholders not affiliated with Alden. The company’s second largest shareholder, with around 25%, is Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire biotech investor who in 2018 bought the Los Angeles Times from Tribune for $ 500 million.
With the industry reeling from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Tribune fired dozens of reporters and closed many of its newsrooms entirely to save on real estate costs. In early December, Tribune agreed to sell its e-commerce business, Best Reviews, to the Nexstar Media Group Inc.
for $ 160 million.
Write to Cara Lombardo at [email protected], Dana Cimilluca at [email protected] and Lukas I. Alpert at [email protected]
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Published in the December 31, 2020 print edition as ‘Fund Seeks to Fully Buy Tribune Chain’.