Hedgie Chatham Asset wins McClatchy auction

Hedge fund manager Chatham Asset Management emerged as the winner in a bankruptcy auction for McClatchy, ending 163 years of family ownership for the newspaper chain and increasing financial investors’ control of the American publishing industry.

The sale, announced by McClatchy on Sunday, must be approved by the judge overseeing its bankruptcy. McClatchy publishes some 30 daily papers, including the Miami Herald, the Sacramento Bee and the Kansas City Star. It is also the majority owner of American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer.

The sale price for McClatchy’s assets couldn’t immediately be learned. A purchase agreement should be filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan in coming days.

A sale to Chatham would mean roughly one-third of all newspapers sold in the US each day are published by companies controlled by financial institutions.

Fortress Investment Group manages Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain, with Apollo Global Management as the primary lender. Alden Global Capital, which owns 32 percent of Tribune Publishing, also publishes 60 dailies, including the Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, through its MediaNews Group. Alden has been criticized for making deep cuts in editorial spending.

“Chatham is committed to preserving newsroom jobs and independent journalism that serve and inform local communities during this important time,” the company said in a statement.