what newspapers does alden global capital own
what newspapers does alden global capital own
what newspapers does alden global capital own
To many, it just didnt seem possible that Alden would instead choose to destroy newspapers by laying off the workforce en masse and stripping papers of all their assets. It has not, however, retained the Chicago Tribune. But years later, when Randy relocates to Palm Beach and becomes a major donor to Donald Trumps presidential campaign, it will make a certain amount of sense that his earliest known media investment was conceived as a giant middle finger to the journalistic establishment. [12] Lee owns daily newspapers in 77 markets in 26 states, and about 350 weekly and specialty publications. The editor in chief mysteriously resigned, and managers scrambled to deal with the cuts. It is a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital, the New York City hedge fund that backed the purchase of and dramatic cost-cutting at more than 100 newspapers causing more than 1,000 lost jobs. Instead, they gutted the place. Most responded with variations on the same question: Which recent stories from your newspapers have you especially appreciated? . The newspaper lost a quarter of its staff to buyouts after it was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May. In May, the Tribune was acquired by Alden Global Capital, a secretive hedge fund that has quickly, and with remarkable ease, become one of the largest newspaper operators in the country. Heath hopes the well never runs dry, but hes going to keep pumping until it does. The Tribune Tower rises above the streets of downtown Chicago in a majestic snarl of . Baltimore is an underdog town, Liz Bowie, a Sun reporter who was at the meeting, told me. But most of them also had a stake in the communities their papers served, which meant that, if nothing else, their egos were wrapped up in putting out a respectable product. The new owners had announced a round of buyouts, some beloved staffers were leaving, and those who remained were worried about the future. Alden Global Capital already owns 200 publications and a 6% stake in Lee Enterprises. Smith. Another ex-publisher told me Freeman believed that local newspapers should be treated like any other commodity in an extractive business. [21], Under the acquisition plan, MediaNews Group debt fell to $165 million from about $930 million. She was writing about Aldens growing newspaper empire, and wanted to know what it was like to be the last news reporter in town. At the Suns peak, it employed more than 400 journalists, with reporters in London and Tokyo and Jerusalem. When plans for the building were announced in 1922, Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime owner of the Chicago Tribune, said he wanted to erect the worlds most beautiful office building for his beloved newspaper. Theyre being targeted by investors who have figured out how to get rich by strip-mining local-news outfits. But beneath all the recriminations and infighting was a cruel reality: When faced with the likely decimation of the countrys largest local newspapers, most Americans didnt seem to care very much. The hollowing-out of the Chicago Tribune was noted in the national press, of course. At the end of last month, Alden Global Capital, a notorious newspaper-owning hedge fund, sought to stake its claim on one of the last newspaper chains it hasn't yet touched: Lee Enterprises, which owns 90 publications across the country.Alden, which currently owns six percent of Lee's stock, sent an unsolicited offer to purchase the newspaper chain for $24 per share. The $633 million sale made Alden the nation's second largest newspaper owner in terms of circulation, with more than 200 newspapers. Alden completed its takeover of the Tribune papers in May. But he couldnt help feeling that the police scandal would have been exposed much sooner if the Sun were operating at full force. By 2011, when Aldens Distressed Opportunities Fund lost more than 20 percent of its value, Knights holdings in the fund were valued at $10.7 million. Eventually he was the only news reporter left on staff, charged with covering the citys police, schools, government, courts, hospitals, and businesses. Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for gutting local newsrooms, is seeking to buy Lee Enterprises (LEE), a publicly traded company with a chain of daily newspapers and other publications . "[26] Shortly thereafter, Alden Global, through its operating unit Strategic Investment Opportunities, filed a lawsuit in state court in Delaware against Lee Enterprises. Tuesday, 23 November 2021 07:46 PM EST. It has figured out how to make a profit by driving newspapers into the ground, he says, since Alden's aim is not to make them into long-term sustainable businesses but rather maximize profits quickly to show it has made a winning investment. Alden Global Capital has currently bid to buy all of Tribune. On the appointed afternoon, I dialed the number provided by his spokesperson and found myself talking to the most feared man in American newspapers. Alden Capital's gutting of the Denver Post is the most discussed example of this, but there are many others. "The question is, will local communities decide that this is an important issue, that it's worth saving these newspapers, protecting them from firms like Alden, or will they decide that they don't really care?" It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith. What threatens local newspapers now is not just digital disruption or abstract market forces. Lee, which owns the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Omaha World-Herald and many other daily newspapers throughout the region, is staving off a takeover attempt by Alden Global Capital, a New-York . Alden Global Capital owns 56 dailies under Digital First Media (Alden also owns 32% of Tribune 10 dailies in Column C.) Tribune Media owns 10 dailies. Smith, a reclusive Palm Beach septuagenarian, hasnt granted a press interview since the 1980s. Hes acutely aware of the risksI may end up with egg on my face, he saidbut he believes its worth trying to develop a successful model that could be replicated in other markets. Coppins describes Alden as a specific type of firm: a "vulture hedge fund." The New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital - known for slashing its newspapers' budgets to extract escalated profits - won shareholder approval Friday for its $633 million bid to acquire the Tribune Publishing newspaper chain.. [7][8] Alden's purchase price was $635 million, or $17.25 per share. Alden, which has built a reputation as one of the newspaper industry's most aggressive cost-cutters, became Tribune Publishing's largest shareholder in November 2019 and owns a 31.3% stake. Even in the greed is good climate of the era, Randy is a polarizing character on Wall Street. All good works, and Knight is to be commended for them. [14], Alden has a reputation for sharply cutting costs by reducing the number of journalists working on its newspapers. But maybe the clearest illustration is in Vallejo, California, a city of about 120,000 people 30 miles north of San Francisco. After a powerful Illinois state legislator resigned amid bribery allegations, the paper didnt have a reporter in Springfield to follow the resulting scandal. [4][5] The company added more newspapers to its portfolio in May 2021 when it purchased Tribune Publishing and became the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States. On March 9, 2020, a small group of Baltimore Sun reporters convened a secret meeting at the downtown Hyatt Regency. Hedge fund Alden Global Capital, one of the country's largest newspaper owners with a reputation for intense cost cuts and layoffs, has offered to buy the local newspaper chain Lee Enterprises for about $141 million. Convinced that the Sun wont be able to provide the kind of coverage the city needs, he has set out to build a new publication of record from the ground up. . This is a subscription-based business.. Updated May 21, 2021 at 2:13 PM ET. After a long walk down a windowless hallway lined with cinder-block walls, I got in an elevator, which deposited me near a modest bank of desks near the printing press. Collectively, they control about one-half of daily newspapers in the U.S. These included several Cayman Island-based funds and another profiting from Greek debt stemming from that countrys financial crisis. A search through nonprofit groups publicly available financial reports, commonly known as Form 990s, reveals that all kinds of organizations some surprising have invested their monies with Alden over the years. [2] Its managing director is Heath Freeman. So Freeman pivoted. The papers printing was moved to a plant more than 100 miles outside town, Glidden told me, which meant that the news arriving on subscribers doorsteps each morning was often more than 24 hours old. Its World War II correspondent brought firsthand news of Nazi concentration camps to American readers; its editorial page had the power to make or break political careers in Maryland. It will rely initially on philanthropic donations, but he aims to sell enough subscriptions to make it self-sustaining within five years. To be sure, the Knight Foundation does much to help promote and sustain local news. For Freeman and his investors to come out ahead, they didnt need to worry about the long-term health of the assetsthey just needed to maximize profits as quickly as possible. I put the question to Freeman, but he declined to answer on the record. A Cornell grad with an M.B.A., Randy is on a partner track at Bear Stearns, where hes poised to make a comfortable fortune simply by climbing the ladder. NPR's A Martnez talks to McKay Coppins of The Atlantic about how a hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, is buying and then gutting newspapers and the implications for democracy. He studied art at Alfred University under sculptors Glenn Zweygardt and William Parry. The term vulture capitalism hasnt been invented yet, but Randy will come to be known as a pioneer in the field. For two men who employ thousands of journalists, remarkably little is known about them. As a reporter whos covered Alden Global Capital for more than two years, people often ask me who are the investors behind the hedge fund that owns one of Americas largest newspaper chains? That's because the fund is stepping in to buy and then gut newsrooms across the country. Knight first reported its investment in Alden in 2010, noting the fair market value of its Alden holdings was $13.4 million. When the Chicago Tribune held a Save Local News rally, most of the people who showed up were members of the media. Aldens Distressed Opportunities Fund was launched in 2008 and saw astounding success in its first few months, showing returns of more than 30 percent a big rescue for Alden, whose investments in Russia the year before had lost more than 61 percent of their value. As a reporter who's covered Alden Global Capital for more than two years, people often ask me who are the investors behind the hedge fund that owns one of America's largest newspaper chains?. But Glidden felt sure he knew the real reason: Alden wanted him gone. Much of the Knight family's once-grand newspaper empire was ultimately acquired by Alden Global Capital, while the family foundation invested in Alden funds. Alden-owned newspapers have cut their staff at twice the rate of their competitors, for all of Tribune Publishings newspapers, security company that trained Saudi operatives. This once-proud publication is now owned and run by Alden Global Capital, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund with a long record of buying papers on the cheap, selling off their assets and slashing pay and jobs. He started as a general-assignment reporter, covering local crime and community events. But he says the worst culprit is the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which bought the Mercury in 2011 and has since sold the paper's building and slashed newsroom staff by about 70%. But he has a big idea: He believes theres serious money to be made in buying troubled companies, steering them into bankruptcy, and then selling them off in parts. Former Knight-Ridder headquarters. Rapid-fire changes underway at newspapers sold to cost-slashing hedge fund Alden Global Capital have led to a profound case of the jitters at newsrooms like the New York Daily News. But whats happening in Chicago is different. The Alden Global Capital . [13], In response, the board of Lee Enterprises enacted a shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", in order to ward off the purchase attempt. Smith & Company. Others pointed to Bainums financing partner, who pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour. In my many conversations with people who have worked with Freeman, not one could recall seeing him read a newspaper. In 2011, Paton launched an ambitious initiative he called Project Thunderdome, hiring more than 50 journalists in New York and strategically deploying them to supplement short-staffed local newsrooms. As the months passed, things kept getting worse. At one point, he told me, the citys entire civil-service commission was abruptly fired without explanation; his sources told him something fishy was going on, but he knew hed never be able to run down the story. [13], Newspapers in Alden's portfolio include Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Boston Herald, The Mercury News, East Bay Times, The Orange County Register, and Orlando Sentinel. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted other publications. It wasn't the first newspaper acquisition for this hedge fund firm, nor is it the only firm of its kind eyeing the nation's newspapers. But in the meantime, there isn't really anything that can fill the hole these newspapers will leave if they're shut down. But even for a group of journalists, it was tough to keep the publics attention. "Local newspaper brands and operations are the engines that power trusted local news in communities across the United States," Heath Freeman, president of Alden Global Capital, said in a . Youd be surprised. This investment strategy does not come without social consequences. Reading these stories now has a certain horror-movie quality: You want to somehow warn the unwitting victims of whats about to happen. Instead, the money was used to finance the hedge funds other ventures. "[28], In mid-February 2022, the Delaware court found in favor of Lee Enterprises. You need real capital to move the needle, he told me. Year after year, the executives from Alden would order new budget cuts, and Glidden would end up with fewer co-workers and more work. He quotes H. L. Mencken, the papers crusading 20th-century columnist, on the joys of journalism: It is really the life of kings. Alden began its acquisition of Tribune Publishing in 2019, when they paid $117.9 million to Michael Ferro for his 25.2-percent stake. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. When a reporter asked if their work was still valued, the editor sounded deflated. The movement gained traction in some markets, with local politicians and celebrities expressing solidarity. We must finally require the online tech behemoths, such as Google, Apple, and Facebook, to fairly compensate us for our original news content, he told me. In truth, Freeman didnt seem particularly interested in defending Aldens reputation. Iowa-based Lee Enterprises asks investors to help fight off hedge fund Alden Global Capital. One conclusions even these reporters are hesitant to make is that we are all dealing within a capitalist system which has none, or few, principles to guide itself, apart from making a profit, no matter how. Longtime Tribune staffers had seen their share of bad corporate overlords, but this felt more calculated, more sinister. (Freeman has, in the past, disputed Bainums account of the negotiations.) Freeman, his 41-year-old protg and the president of the firm, would be unrecognizable in most of the newsrooms he owns. But in the case of local news, nothing comparable is ready to replace these papers when they die. The 21st century has seen many of these generational owners flee the industry, to devastating effect. A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms. These were not exactly boom times for newspapers, after allat least someone wanted to buy them. Its a game, Randy explains to his son.
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