MediaNews Buys 4 Papers From McClatchy

Gary Pruitt, CEO of the McClatchy Co., left, and Dean Singleton, CEO of MediaNews Group, laugh as they address the annual American Society of Newspaper Editors annual convention, Tuesday, April 25, 2006, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) (Elaine Thompson - AP)

Knight Ridder was forced to put itself up for sale last fall following a revolt of its three largest shareholders, who were frustrated with the company's lagging stock price. Unlike several other newspaper publishers including McClatchy, The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co., Knight Ridder was not controlled by a family through a separate class of stock.

McClatchy announced a deal to buy Knight Ridder in mid-March for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $2 billion in debt.

McClatchy intends to keep 20 other newspapers owned by Knight Ridder, which together with the 12 it already owns will make the company the No. 2 U.S. newspaper company after Gannett.

Once the deal is complete, McClatchy will have eight additional Knight Ridder newspapers to sell: the American News in Aberdeen, S.D.; the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio; the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota; the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota; the Philadelphia Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer; The News-Sentinel in Ft. Wayne, Ind. and The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

___

AP Business Reporter Michael Liedtke contributed to this story from San Jose, Calif.

___

On the Net:

http://www.mcclatchy.com/

http://www.medianewsgroup.com/