MediaNews, McClatchy reach deal on 4 Knight Ridder newspapers

The details of the MediaNews deal are fairly complex: MediaNews will purchase the Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, and Hearst, which owns the San Francisco Chronicle, will acquire the Monterey County Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. For tax reasons, Hearst has agreed to trade the St. Paul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inKnight Ridder Tribune News Service p. 1
Main Author Pete Carey and Chris O'Brien
Format Newsletter
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington Tribune Content Agency LLC 26.04.2006
Subjects
Ridder, Tony
Singleton, Dean
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Summary:The details of the MediaNews deal are fairly complex: MediaNews will purchase the Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, and Hearst, which owns the San Francisco Chronicle, will acquire the Monterey County Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. For tax reasons, Hearst has agreed to trade the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Monterey Herald to MediaNews in return for an investment in MediaNews' assets outside the Bay Area. MediaNews said it will add the Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times to its California Newspapers Partnership, of which MediaNews owns 54.2 percent and is the controlling partner. The other two partners -- Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper company, and Stephens Media -- will contribute their share of the sale price, 19.5 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively, helping MediaNews finance the deal. [Dean Singleton] said Mercury News Publisher George Riggs will continue to oversee the Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, and that the Mercury News' top management will be retained. He also said MediaNews will keep the digital assets that are associated with the newspapers.