Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management says it will pay $ 312 million to buy newspaper editor McClatchy, editor of The News & Observer and Herald Sun in the Triangle, out of bankruptcy protection.
Interestingly, McClatchy bought The N&O in 1995 for $ 373 million, according to a report by The Associated Press at the time.
That desalination ended some 100 years of newspaper ownership by the Daniels family. At the time, N&O was among the emerging leaders in Internet use.
“You want to be in a position where if you decide to sell something, you can sell it on your terms,” said Frank Daniels Jr., president and publisher of The News and Observer Publishing Co., when the deals were announced. .
The Charlotte Observer is also part of the McClatchy chain.
Chatham said Friday that he plans to offer employees of the chain of 30 newspapers their current jobs at the same salary and benefits, and will honor collective bargaining agreements.
President Kevin McClatchy, CEO Craig Forman and fellow board directors will resign when the deal closes before September 30, the network said in a statement. The settlement would need the approval of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge, and a hearing is scheduled for August 4.
“While passing the torch will be humiliating, we want to thank our employees, readers, communities and Chatham for recognizing the value of the local journalism public service role and supporting its mission,” said Kevin McClatchy in a statement as reported by the observer. from Charlotte.
McClatchy Co., based in Sacramento, California, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the US It also owns the Miami Herald and the Sacramento Bee. She filed for bankruptcy protection due to a heavy debt burden stemming from her $ 4.5 billion purchase of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain in 2006, just as the newspaper industry declined sharply.
Chatham was McClatchy’s largest shareholder and debt holder. It outbid an offer from Alden Global Capital, another hedge fund that has taken a leading role in the American newspaper business.
Alden’s offer “proposed cutting around 1,000 jobs, more than a third of the 2,800 employees listed in the company’s first-day bankruptcy filing, and was valued at about $ 100 million less than Chatham, according to a filing. of the court on Friday for the restructuring of McClatchy. adviser, “said the observer.
