Hedge fund completes takeover of Tribune

The newspaper publisher Tribune has agreed to be sold to Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund with extensive California media holdings including The Mercury News and East Bay Times, in a deal valued at $630 million.

Tribune Publishing Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News 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. Alden has a controlling interest in MediaNews Group, one of the country’s largest newspaper chains. It is known for consolidating media properties and cutting fixed costs. Alden has said these moves are necessary to keep news organizations healthy in a challenging economic environment, but critics have lambasted the fund for cutting newsroom jobs to bolster profits.

In addition to its Bay Area properties, the MediaNews Group papers include the Boston Herald, the Denver Post and the Orange County Register.

In a statement, Alden said: “Our commitment to ensuring the sustainability of robust local journalism is well established and this is part of that effort.”

Tribune said the purchase price represents a premium of 45% to the closing price of Tribune’s shares on Dec. 11, the last trading day before the company received Alden’s proposal. Tribune’s board has approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter.

The deal still requires approval by the shareholders who own the roughly twothirds of Tribune Publishing stock that Alden does not already own.