Tribune agrees to purchase by hedge fund for $630 million

CHICAGO – The newspaper publisher Tribune has agreed to be sold to Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting costs and eliminating newsroom jobs, in a deal valued at $630 million.

Tribune Publishing Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its shares to Alden for $17.25 apiece, in cash.

Alden became Tribune Publishing’s largest shareholder in 2019; it holds a 32% stake. The hedge fund owns one of the country’s largest newspaper chains; its papers include the Boston Herald, the Denver Post and the San Jose Mercury News.

The Baltimore Sun is not included in the deal. It will be sold to a nonprofit formed by businessman and philanthropist Stewart Bainum Jr. that will run the paper “for the benefit of the community,” the Sun wrote Tuesday.

The success of the Tribune deal hinges on securing the votes of biotech billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns about 24% of Tribune Publishing, and shareholder Mason Slaine, a former media executive who owns about 8%, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Slaine and a representative for Soon-Shiong did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

Robert Robb makes an excellent point in his column discussing Doug Ducey’s awarding of gaming licenses.

It’s strange that in the state that supports free enterprise and market solutions to problems that these licenses wouldn’t go out to competitive bidding.

What’s going on here? Are we awarding friends?

Al Sweet, Youngtown