Tribune Papers Sold To ‘Vulture Capitalist’
• Shareholders of Tribune Publishing Company and its storied newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun, the New York Daily News and The Chicago Tribune, voted Friday to sell the company to Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund with a reputation for slashing staff and deep cost-cutting.
According to The Washington Post, Tribune’s shareholders approved the sale valued at around $630 million last Friday. Under the terms of the agreement, Alden, which already owns about 32% of Tribune’s shares, will acquire the remaining shares for $17.25 per share. We understand The Baltimore Sun will not be part of the acquisition and will instead be sold to Sunlight for All Institute, a nonprofit formed by Stewart Bainum Jr., who had attempted to put together a competing offer for Tribune. Interestingly, California biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of The Los Angeles Times who holds a 24% stake in Tribune, elected to abstain from the vote. The Tribune Publishing proxy filed on April 20 stated that abstentions are the same a no vote for the merger.
As the Post reports, Alden’s purchase would represent the defeat of a year-long public campaign waged by Tribune news staffers to find an alternate buyer. “They had pleaded for well-heeled local investors to buy their newspapers instead, casting Alden’s takeover as an apocalyptic outcome for journalism in their communities,” the Post stated. On Friday, they pledged to continue to “fight against Alden to protect local news and the cuts that they will inevitably try to make.” Several Tribune newspaper employee unions issued a joint statement that read, “Today, Tribune Publishing shareholders voted to put profit and greed over local news in our country.”
In a statement, Alden’s Managing Director Heath Freeman said, “Local newspaper brands and operations are the engines that power trusted local news in communities across the United States. The purchase of Tribune reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry.” Freeman also said Alden would “focus on getting publications to a place where they can operate sustainably over the long term.” Potentially chilling words to anyone who has ever worked in radio…
