Newspapers: Hedge fund acquires Tribune

Controversial New York–based hedge fund Alden Global Capital completed its acquisition of Tribune Publishing this week, said Robert Channick in the Chicago Tribune. The $633 million deal adds the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, The Baltimore Sun, and other metro dailies to Alden’s 200-newspaper portfolio. Journalists protested the arrangement, citing Alden’s “reputation as one of the newspaper industry’s most aggressive cost cutters.” The deal “hinged on California biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong,” who held 23.7 percent of Tribune’s shares, but he declined to block the Alden purchase.