Sun-Times sold to group of investors
A group of investors led by a former Chicago alderman on Wednesday purchased the Sun-Times, out-bidding the owners of the Chicago Tribune for its main rival and ending a federal antitrust investigation into the sale.
Former Chicago alderman Edwin Eisendrath and the group of investors beat out Tronc Inc, the owner of the Chicago Tribune as well as the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun, for the tabloid, the Chicago newspapers reported on Wednesday.
“It’s a great town as you know and it will continue to have two great newspapers,” Eisendrath said on Twitter in announcing the deal.
The US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division opened an investigation in May into the possible sale of the Sun-Times to Tronc and monitored the bidding closely.
The department said in a statement on Wednesday that it closed its investigation with the paper’s sale to ST Acquisition Holdings LLC, the investor group.
The terms of the deal between ST Acquisition Holdings and Sun-Times parent Wrapports LLC were not made public.
“Corporate restructuring expert William Brandt, the Chicago Federation of Labour, local labour unions and about a half-dozen other individuals make up the investor group,’’ the Sun-Times reported.
Labour unions in the city applauded the sale, which also included the Chicago Reader, a weekly.
“The little guy won here,” said Chicago Federation of Labour president Jorge Ramirez to the Sun-Times. “This is about fair, honest and balanced reporting. The SunTimes has a rich history of that.”
Wrapports has an annual $25 million contract with Tronc to print and distribute the Sun-Times. “The contract is a major source of revenue for Tronc and one of the reasons it wanted to purchase the newspaper,’’ the Sun-Times reported.
In a separate development, The Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday that it was adding more than a dozen new senior positions in a newsroom revamp to deliver news faster, with more visuals, as readers increasingly rely on smartphones.
“Deputy editor in chief Matt Murray will be promoted to executive editor, and editors for digital content strategy and strategic initiatives will be added,’’ the Journal said in internal memo to employees reviewed by Reuters.
It is also streamlining its editing process, building a newsroom focused on mobile content and promoting diversity.
“The total newsroom headcount will remain roughly stable,” it added.
The reorganisation is part of the paper’s WSJ 2020 initiative announced in October by Dow Jones & Co, the News Corp subsidiary that also owns The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal, which News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch bought in 2007, offered all news employees a buyout as part of the plan.
In Wednesday’s memo, Journal editor in chief Gerard Baker emphasised the need for more diversity in the newsroom.
“If we are to thrive in the competitive environment newspapers face, we must ensure that we are hiring and promoting the best people,” the memo stated.
In February, Rebecca Blumenstein resigned as deputy editor in chief to join The New York Times as deputy managing editor.
Reporters and editors at the Journal signed a letter to Baker and Murray in March voicing concerns about the lack of gender and racial diversity among the staff, according to the letter reviewed by Reuters.
In November, the Journal folded the Greater New York section into another section of the print newspaper and merged other sections like Business & Tech and Money & Investing.