Knight Ridder: going, going, gone-to McClatchy for $4.5 billion
The New York Times reports that after months of deliberation, the Knight Ridder Newspaper Company has agreed to sell itself to McClatchy, publisher of 12 papers including for example the Sacramento Bee, for $4.5 billion in cash and stock and $2 billion in Knight Ridder debt to be assumed by McClatchy. McClatchy was the only major newspaper company to submit a final bid for Knight Ridder, which publishes 32 dailies, including The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Miami Herald.
Following the deal and the sale of 12 Knight Ridder papers (see below), McClatchy will end up with 32 daily newspapers and roughly 50 non-daily publications, making it the second-largest newspaper publisher in the nation following Gannett, publisher of USA Today.
McClatchy plans to sell 12 of Knight Ridder's 32 newspapers, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and the San Jose Mercury News, saying that those papers don't fit the company's longstanding criteria of buying newspapers in growing markets.
One of the papers being sold is the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota where the company would have faced antitrust concerns because it also owns the Star Tribune in the adjacent city of Minneapolis.
CEO and chairman of Knight Ridder Tony Ridder commented as follows on the upcoming sale of the 12 papers: "For the twelve newspapers that will be sold, the uncertainty is not over and I regret that very much."
Staff at the Knight Ridder papers to be retained by McClatchy may be relieved the company was bought by a newspaper publisher and not, as was feared, by a consortium of investors who might have broken the whole company up into small parts and sold it off.
Tony Ridder has commented as follows on the sale of his company to McClatchy: "Knight Ridder and McClatchy share many similar --and important -- values, most notably a comittment to quality journalism, fairness to our employees and service to our communities. The joining of so many Knight Ridder newspapers under McClatchy's banner will enable them to continue to flourish in an environment of excellence and integrity."
Sources: New York Times, Editor and Publisher, AFP (registration required), CBS News.
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Wretchard at The Belmont Club wrote the same basic thing back in mid-April.
www.baghdadskies.blogspot.com
www.baghdadskies2.blogspot.com
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Iraq vs. Algeria
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(1)(i)
(a) Iraq invaded. Algeria already occupied with full intelligence network. Intelligence good.
(b) Iraq Arabic speaking, little or no intelligence available to counter insurgents and terrorists.
(ii)
(a)Algeria long-standing colony. Large white, later Pied Noire, population well established in country.
(b) Iraq: military and small foreign bureacracy with no knowledge of Iraq politics, culture, history.
(ii) Algeria French speaking
(3)
(a) De Gaulle [1962-3 ? ] suddeny decided to give up Algeria as colony causing terrorist campaign inside France by disaffected Pied Noire and milirary officers who were stationed in Algeria.
(b)U.S. cannot leave Iraq in immediate term [5-10 years - most believe bases in Iraqi Kurdistan]
(4) Algeria was not a major oil producer. U.S. will buy more Iraqi oil when it is in full production.
(5)
(a)U.S. occupation of Iraq part of Middle East policy
(b) Algeria:liberation war
What said here some people about the looking like of war in Irak and in Algeria's struggle for liberty is QUITE true .And after having won all"technical" battles, no doubt that the US will lose everything as France in 1962.Will they turn to Cuba to revenge on ?