Alden Global Seeks to Acquire Tribune Publishing

The Wall Street Journal first described Alden’s plans late Wednesday.

Tribune has a industry value of about $470 million right after a yearslong slide as the prospective customers for nearby newspapers dim. Its shares are very little changed this 12 months and have been up 8.8% premarket on very low volume.

A offer would have much-reaching implications for an business beset by sharp declines in revenue around the earlier 20 years that have led to a wave of consolidation and cost cuts. Involving 2008 and 2019, the industry shed 51% of its newsroom jobs, in accordance to the Pew Research Heart.

Tribune Publishing, one particular of the greatest newspaper chains in the nation by circulation, publishes 9 greater-market place every day papers, like the Baltimore Sunshine, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant.

Alden controls MediaNews Team, a private organization that owns some 60 daily newspapers around the nation, which includes the Denver Put up, San Jose Mercury Information and Orange County Sign up. The hedge fund has a track record for making deep expense cuts at titles it acquires.

In July, Alden cemented a firmer placement on the Tribune board, having control of a 3rd seat out of 7 in exchange for an arrangement to extend a standstill settlement that helps prevent the hedge fund from increasing its stake or earning a hostile bid right until just after June 2021.

Consequently, any deal to boost the stake would probable need signoff from Tribune or a substantial part of shareholders unaffiliated with Alden. The company’s 2nd-major shareholder, with about 25%, is

Patrick Soon-Shiong,

a billionaire biotech investor who in 2018 bought the Los Angeles Moments from Tribune for $500 million.

With the business reeling from the economic effect stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, Tribune has laid off dozens of reporters and shut many of its newsrooms entirely to help save on real-estate expenses. Earlier in December, Tribune agreed to sell its e-commerce company, Finest Critiques, to

Nexstar Media Team Inc.

for $160 million.

Write to Cara Lombardo at [email protected], Dana Cimilluca at [email protected] and Lukas I. Alpert at [email protected]