Tribune Publishing has bought the Orange County Register, an interesting development considering some would argue the company doesn’t seem to know what to do with the papers it already owns.
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U.S. Justice Department attorneys this week indicated they would fight Tribune’s purchase of the two Freedom papers on antitrust grounds, saying the company’s ownership of four papers in the region would give Tribune an illegal competitive advantage that harms both readers and advertisers in Orange and Riverside counties.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – March 17, 2016 – Tribune Publishing Co. today announced that it, through its subsidiary Orange County Media, LLC, was the successful bidder at a public bankruptcy auction to acquire substantially all of the assets of Freedom Communications, Inc.
The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit in an attempt to block Tribune Publishing’s purchase of the Orange County Register and Press-Enterprise newspapers in Southern California.
That bid was contested by Tribune, which publishes the Los Angeles Times and the Union-Tribune in San Diego.
William Baer, assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division, wrote that “if Freedom selects Tribune as its purchaser, the division will exercise its antitrust law enforcement responsibilities to ensure that the transaction does not deprive newspaper readers and advertisers in these areas of the benefits of competition”. Tribune has also submitted a bid for Freedom’s assets and said it wasn’t informed of Digital First’s selection as stalking horse until after the publication of an article in the Orange County Register about it. Tribune asked a judge to consider its request on Monday.
Tribune bid $56 million to acquire the company, outbidding Digital First Media and a group led by Register executives. DFM’s paper, The Denver Post, is suffering from staff cutbacks and the resignation of one of the paper’s editorial writers, Jeremy Meyer.
Tribune has had its share of management upheaval in this year.
Tribune’s bid does not assume the liabilities of Freedom’s pension plan.
Tribune’s bid is still subject to court approval at a hearing set for March 21. “Local investors walk out as auction for OC Register, Press-Enterprise erupts into all-day battle”, reads the headline in the Register.
Kushner has since left the company, although Spitz remains a company chairman and was part of the Freedom insider group that lost out to Tribune.
Freedom Communications sought bankruptcy protection previous year.
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Then in 2012, the paper was sold to Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz and their 2100 Trust group for $50 million. The LA Register lasted only five months, and the Long Beach Register lasted 16.
