Here's something you might be interested in.
Rumors are making the rounds among former Union-Tribune employees that its parent Copley Press has been sold. It put itself up for sale in July, and recent rumors of the latrine variety had three bidders competing. The rumored buyer's identity is unknown, and so is the price, of course. As this blog has been reporting for months, several companies have looked over the company. William Dean Singleton, whose company, MediaNews, publishes 54 daily papers, has been spotted at the U-T. Recently, he said his company is considering having one news desk for all its papers, and it might be based offshore. Thomson Reuters is using journalists in India to handle corporate earnings reports. Newspaper unions are howling at Singleton's suggestion. His company is laden with debt. Although he owns several Southern California papers, and he likes to cluster papers geographically to cut costs, he would probably need help, possibly from Hearst, to make a deal, given his tattered balance sheet. Another company in the rumor mill is Chicago's Tribune Co. Its balance sheet is worse. In August, rating service Fitch said the company is a candidate for debt default and deserves a deep-junk CCC rating. There was a recent item in the Greensladeblog, published by the U.K.'s Guardian, that Tribune would buy the Orange County Register and U-T and combine them with the L.A. Times. Another possibility would be a joint operating agreement with the U-T. The New York Times is also in the rumor mill, but Moody's just warned the paper that its bonds may be lowered to junk status. It is quite doubtful that the Times will make any acquisitions. Among others in the rumor hat is Canada's Black Press Ltd. That was reported here many weeks ago; a Black executive was spotted at the company. But here is a sobering thought about the risks of buying newspapers. GateHouse Media of upstate New York began buying small newspapers frenetically around 2006. The money was advanced by the Fortress hedge fund/private equity group. In early 2007, GateHouse bought Copley Press's Ohio and Illinois papers. At the time, GateHouse stock was selling around $17. Today, the stock plunged 56.2 percent to 7 cents a share, as the company announced it has been delisted by the New York Stock Exchange. I will post U-T updates if there is any solid news or even credible speculation.
Rumors are making the rounds among former Union-Tribune employees that its parent Copley Press has been sold. It put itself up for sale in July, and recent rumors of the latrine variety had three bidders competing. The rumored buyer's identity is unknown, and so is the price, of course. As this blog has been reporting for months, several companies have looked over the company. William Dean Singleton, whose company, MediaNews, publishes 54 daily papers, has been spotted at the U-T. Recently, he said his company is considering having one news desk for all its papers, and it might be based offshore. Thomson Reuters is using journalists in India to handle corporate earnings reports. Newspaper unions are howling at Singleton's suggestion. His company is laden with debt. Although he owns several Southern California papers, and he likes to cluster papers geographically to cut costs, he would probably need help, possibly from Hearst, to make a deal, given his tattered balance sheet. Another company in the rumor mill is Chicago's Tribune Co. Its balance sheet is worse. In August, rating service Fitch said the company is a candidate for debt default and deserves a deep-junk CCC rating. There was a recent item in the Greensladeblog, published by the U.K.'s Guardian, that Tribune would buy the Orange County Register and U-T and combine them with the L.A. Times. Another possibility would be a joint operating agreement with the U-T. The New York Times is also in the rumor mill, but Moody's just warned the paper that its bonds may be lowered to junk status. It is quite doubtful that the Times will make any acquisitions. Among others in the rumor hat is Canada's Black Press Ltd. That was reported here many weeks ago; a Black executive was spotted at the company. But here is a sobering thought about the risks of buying newspapers. GateHouse Media of upstate New York began buying small newspapers frenetically around 2006. The money was advanced by the Fortress hedge fund/private equity group. In early 2007, GateHouse bought Copley Press's Ohio and Illinois papers. At the time, GateHouse stock was selling around $17. Today, the stock plunged 56.2 percent to 7 cents a share, as the company announced it has been delisted by the New York Stock Exchange. I will post U-T updates if there is any solid news or even credible speculation.