Hedge Firm Loses Out On Gannett Bid

The two largest newspaper chains in the country, USA Today publisher Gannett and Chicago Tribune owner Tribune, may reignite merger talks, now that both have dispatched with hostile takeovers by smaller suitors.

Sources tell Media Ink at The NY Post that there have already been back-door reach-outs in recent months.

“A Gannett-Tribune merger remains a live possibility, while McClatchy seeks the right partner,” said Ken Doctor, who writes the Newsonomics column for the Nieman Journalism Lab.

Gannett, of course, emerged victorious on Thursday after successfully beating back a bid by Alden Global Capital-owned MNG Enterprises to land three insurgents on the Gannett board.

Heath Freeman, the CEO of Alden, hoped that he and two allies would crack the Gannett board and help pave the way to approving a $1.36 billion hostile takeover by the much smaller MNG, owner of the Denver Post and Boston Herald. Instead, the Gannett shareholders backed all eight incumbent candidates, sinking any hopes of pulling off the takeover.

Tribune in recent months was also busy fending off an unwanted bid from debt-heavy McClatchy Co., owner of the Miami Herald and Kansas City Star, which was attracted by Tribune’s debt-free balance sheet.

“It is likely that consolidation will continue,” said Michael Kupinski, an analyst at Noble Capital Markets. “In my opinion, the newspaper industry needs scale to survive.”