MediaNews Group haps
By SETH SUTEL
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Six weeks after announcing a deal to buy the nation's second-largest newspaper company, McClatchy Co. has agreed to sell four Knight Ridder Inc. newspapers to MediaNews Group Inc. for $1 billion.
The four papers - three in California and one in Minnesota - are among 12 that McClatchy has said it intends to sell because they don't meet its acquisition criteria, which include being located in rapidly growing markets.
The deal announced Wednesday increases the profile and reach of MediaNews, a privately held company based in Denver and run by William Dean Singleton. With financial backing from Hearst Corp., another newspaper publisher, MediaNews will wind up owning the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, the Monterey County Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Singleton's interest in the newspapers had been widely known. The three northern California papers complement his existing holdings, which include The Oakland Tribune and the Marin Independent Journal. MediaNews owns a number of newspapers in geographic clusters, which helps reduce production and other costs and also allows for group advertising sales.
McClatchy would have faced antitrust difficulties owning the St. Paul, Minn. paper since it already owns the Star Tribune in the neighboring city of Minneapolis.
As he prepared to leave the Mercury News to drive to a meeting at the Contra Costa Times, Singleton said no layoffs are currently planned at the Bay area paper.
Singleton planned to be in St. Paul on Thursday to meet with Pioneer Press employees. He told the Pioneer Press that he intends to compete vigorously with the Star Tribune and plans to retain Par Ridder as Pioneer Press publisher.
Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder said he will closely monitor how the deal affects the Mercury News - his hometown paper. ``I think Dean will do a good job,'' Ridder said outside the Mercury News. ``I have his cell phone and e-mail addresses and if I see anything I don't like I plan to let him know.''
The agreement calls for MediaNews to acquire the San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, which will then be folded into the California Newspaper Partnership, an entity in which it has a 54 percent stake.
The other two stakeholders in the partnership, industry leader Gannett Co. and the privately held Stephens Media Group, have agreed to contribute their share of paying for the two papers, according to a joint statement from McClatchy and MediaNews.
Separately, Hearst, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle, will buy the Monterey County Herald in California and the St. Paul Pioneer Press and then transfer them to MediaNews in exchange for a stake in all newspapers MediaNews owns outside of the Bay Area.
Once the deal closes, MediaNews would become the fourth-largest newspaper company in the country in terms of circulation, with about 2.7 million daily circulation and 53 daily newspapers, following Gannett, the new McClatchy and Tribune Co.
Knight Ridder was forced to put itself up for sale last fall following a revolt of its three largest shareholders, who were frustrated with the company's lagging stock price. Unlike several other newspaper publishers including McClatchy, The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co., Knight Ridder was not controlled by a family through a separate class of stock.
McClatchy announced a deal to buy Knight Ridder in mid-March for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $2 billion in debt.
McClatchy intends to keep 20 other newspapers owned by Knight Ridder, which together with the 12 it already owns will make the company the No. 2 U.S. newspaper company after Gannett.
Once the deal is complete, McClatchy will have eight additional Knight Ridder newspapers to sell: the American News in Aberdeen, S.D.; the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio; the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota; the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota; the Philadelphia Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer; The News-Sentinel in Ft. Wayne, Ind. and The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
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AP Business Reporter Michael Liedtke contributed to this story from San Jose, Calif.
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On the Net:
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=100550
http://www.mcclatchy.com/
http://www.medianewsgroup.com/
AP-WS-04-27-06 1004EDT
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Six weeks after announcing a deal to buy the nation's second-largest newspaper company, McClatchy Co. has agreed to sell four Knight Ridder Inc. newspapers to MediaNews Group Inc. for $1 billion.
The four papers - three in California and one in Minnesota - are among 12 that McClatchy has said it intends to sell because they don't meet its acquisition criteria, which include being located in rapidly growing markets.
The deal announced Wednesday increases the profile and reach of MediaNews, a privately held company based in Denver and run by William Dean Singleton. With financial backing from Hearst Corp., another newspaper publisher, MediaNews will wind up owning the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, the Monterey County Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Singleton's interest in the newspapers had been widely known. The three northern California papers complement his existing holdings, which include The Oakland Tribune and the Marin Independent Journal. MediaNews owns a number of newspapers in geographic clusters, which helps reduce production and other costs and also allows for group advertising sales.
McClatchy would have faced antitrust difficulties owning the St. Paul, Minn. paper since it already owns the Star Tribune in the neighboring city of Minneapolis.
As he prepared to leave the Mercury News to drive to a meeting at the Contra Costa Times, Singleton said no layoffs are currently planned at the Bay area paper.
Singleton planned to be in St. Paul on Thursday to meet with Pioneer Press employees. He told the Pioneer Press that he intends to compete vigorously with the Star Tribune and plans to retain Par Ridder as Pioneer Press publisher.
Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder said he will closely monitor how the deal affects the Mercury News - his hometown paper. ``I think Dean will do a good job,'' Ridder said outside the Mercury News. ``I have his cell phone and e-mail addresses and if I see anything I don't like I plan to let him know.''
The agreement calls for MediaNews to acquire the San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, which will then be folded into the California Newspaper Partnership, an entity in which it has a 54 percent stake.
The other two stakeholders in the partnership, industry leader Gannett Co. and the privately held Stephens Media Group, have agreed to contribute their share of paying for the two papers, according to a joint statement from McClatchy and MediaNews.
Separately, Hearst, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle, will buy the Monterey County Herald in California and the St. Paul Pioneer Press and then transfer them to MediaNews in exchange for a stake in all newspapers MediaNews owns outside of the Bay Area.
Once the deal closes, MediaNews would become the fourth-largest newspaper company in the country in terms of circulation, with about 2.7 million daily circulation and 53 daily newspapers, following Gannett, the new McClatchy and Tribune Co.
Knight Ridder was forced to put itself up for sale last fall following a revolt of its three largest shareholders, who were frustrated with the company's lagging stock price. Unlike several other newspaper publishers including McClatchy, The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co., Knight Ridder was not controlled by a family through a separate class of stock.
McClatchy announced a deal to buy Knight Ridder in mid-March for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $2 billion in debt.
McClatchy intends to keep 20 other newspapers owned by Knight Ridder, which together with the 12 it already owns will make the company the No. 2 U.S. newspaper company after Gannett.
Once the deal is complete, McClatchy will have eight additional Knight Ridder newspapers to sell: the American News in Aberdeen, S.D.; the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio; the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota; the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota; the Philadelphia Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer; The News-Sentinel in Ft. Wayne, Ind. and The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
---
AP Business Reporter Michael Liedtke contributed to this story from San Jose, Calif.
---
On the Net:
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=100550
http://www.mcclatchy.com/
http://www.medianewsgroup.com/
AP-WS-04-27-06 1004EDT
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