Alden Global Capital LLC, a hedge fund based in Manhattan, NY, is seeking to purchase Tribune Publishing, the parent company of New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, and other assorted publications.
In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Alden Global Capital disclosed its plan to purchase Tribune Publishing for $14.25 a share. Currently, the hedge fund holds a 31.6% stake in the publisher. As of today, Tribune Publishing is valued at approximately $470 million.
The hedge fund stated that it hasn’t received any response from the Board of Directors of the publishing company regarding its letter of inquiry and non-binding acquisition proposal.
Alden’s intentions to acquire the remaining shares of Tribune Publishing does not bode well for employees. Critics pointed out that Alden has a history of making deep budget cuts to its own publications, potentially imperiling hundreds of jobs at local newspapers across the country.
The story of the East Bay Times
In a 2020 article written for the Columbia Journalism Review, Savannah Jacobsen tells the story of the East Bay Times, a Pulitzer Prize-winning publication lauded for its “relentless coverage” of a massive fire that killed thirty-six people in Oakland, California. The paper covered the story in 2017.
