TRIBUNE SHAREHOLDERS OK TAKEOVER BY ALDEN GLOBAL CAPITAL

Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the country’s largest newspaper chains, approved a $630 million takeover bid by hedge fund Alden Global Capital on Friday, the company said in a brief statement, Tali Arbel reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Alden, which already owned nearly one-third of Tribune, stands to take full control of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune papers. Through its Digital First Media chain, Alden owns the Boston Herald, Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News. Tribune offered little additional detail beyond the fact that it expects the deal to close on May 25.

In a statement, Alden said the move “reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry” and its focus on retooling publications so they can operate sustainably over the long term.

The Alden deal is just the latest major acquisition of a newspaper company by an investment firm dedicated to maximizing profits in distressed industries.

The collapse of print advertising as readers migrated to digital publications has rocked the traditional newspaper business.

Publishers have shut down more than 2,000 papers over the past 15 years and half of the newsroom jobs have disappeared. Investment firm owners are often criticized for valuing profits over the mission of local journalism, and Alden is no exception.

The deal drew opposition from many of the company’s journalists in an unusual spate of employee activism. They set up rallies, tried to find local buyers and begged for rescue for their own newspapers. They rooted for a higher bid from hotel mogul Stewart Bainum in the belief that it would be better for local journalism, although that never came to fruition.

They lobbied Tribune’s No. 2 investor, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, to vote no and scuttle the deal. In a blog post, the president of the union representing Tribune journalists lamented that Tribune’s shareholders had “let everyone down” by approving the deal, but said the union would “continue to hold Alden Global Capital accountable.”

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