McClatchy sells 4 newspapers to conservative media owner

[realFedUp]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/14248409p-15065735c.html

MediaNews already owns the Sacramento Bee....

McClatchy sells four papers for $1 billion
By Dale Kasler -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 27, 2006

By obtaining a $1 billion sale price for four of the newspapers it's buying from Knight Ridder Inc., The McClatchy Co. took a potentially big step Wednesday toward reassuring investors anxious about its pending takeover of Knight Ridder. Sacramento-based McClatchy announced it will sell the San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Monterey County Herald and St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press in a complicated transaction that will leave the papers under the control of Denver-based chain MediaNews Group Inc. The arrangement could prove controversial since it will increase MediaNews' already strong grip on the Bay Area newspaper market.

The deal is the first phase in a closely watched auction in which McClatchy plans to sell 12 Knight Ridder papers for $2.15 billion before taxes. The auction is designed to whittle down the debt McClatchy is shouldering to buy Knight Ridder. It also is aimed at ridding McClatchy of papers that operate in slow-growth markets or have relatively thin profit margins.

Uncertainty over the auction plus anxiety about the future of the newspaper industry have dragged down McClatchy's stock and credit rating since the Sacramento company announced March 13 it was buying San Jose-based Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper chain. McClatchy is paying about $4.2 billion plus $2 billion in debt assumption, and is keeping 20 of Knight Ridder's daily newspapers.

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[DrDebug]

1. San Jose Mercury News :(

http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2004/041217_mfe_webb_1.html

[realFedUp]

3. yes, in particular....:-(

[realFedUp]

2. can you say McPapers?

I thought you could.