By David B. Wilkerson
The San Diego Union-Tribune has been sold to private equity firm
Platinum Equity for an undisclosed amount, the newspaper said
Wednesday, in a rather surprising development given the depressed
near-term outlook for the newspaper industry.
The Union-Tribune had been on the block since last July, when
privately held Copley Press said it was exploring strategic options
for the newspaper.
Louis Samson, principal at Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Platinum,
is quoted by the newspaper as saying the company has a "long
history of creating value" under "difficult market transitions,"
and that the Union-Tribune is "a good fit."
Platinum's team includes David H. Black, whose Black Press owns
the Honolulu-Star Bulletin and the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal,
among other newspapers, the Union-Tribune said.
Newspapers, already struggling to cope with a shift toward
online consumption of news and information in recent years, have
buckled under the weight of a global economic collapse triggered in
September by the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. (LEHMQ).
Last December, Tribune Co. (TRBCQ), publisher of the Chicago
Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun and other major
dailies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The parent of
the Minneapolis Star-Tribune followed suit a month later.
Also in January, Gannett Co. (GCI), the largest U.S. newspaper
publisher, said it would shut down the Tucson Citizen if it could
not find a buyer for the publication.
In February, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC and Journal Register
Co.m (JRCOQ) filed for bankruptcy, and Hearst Corp. warned that it
may shut down the San Francisco Chronicle unless it could
drastically cut operating costs.
This week, Hearst opted to shut down the print operations of the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, turning it into a Web-only publication
with a small editorial staff.
David B. Wilkerson; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com