Hearst and MediaNews Join Forces on CA Papers

by Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com, www.reuters.com

In an October 22, 2007 article on Reuters.com, Robert MacMillan reports that Hearst Corp. and MediaNews have closed on a complex deal that will give each a stake in the other's California newspapers.

MacMillan writes:

MediaNews Group Inc said on Monday that Hearst Corp bought a stake in the company for $317 million as part of a complex deal between the two privately held publishers involving several San Francisco-area papers.

Under the terms of the deal, first announced last year and completed last Friday, MediaNews picked up papers that Hearst bought from McClatchy Co. in exchange for giving Hearst a 31 percent interest in MediaNews's operations outside the San Francisco region...

...Hearst owns the San Francisco Chronicle, while MediaNews owns surrounding daily papers, such as the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, the Oakland Tribune and other papers in the Alameda Newspaper Group.

The deal, which came about after McClatchy bought former Mercury News and Times publisher Knight Ridder, sews up ownership of nearly all the daily papers under two owners...

Click here for MacMillan's article in its entirety on Reuters.com.