L-A Times' Soon-Shiong Family Sells San Diego Union-Tribune

Patrick Soon-Shiong and his family have sold the San Diego Union-Tribune to competing publisher MediaNews Group, slimming down the family’s holdings to just one news organization — the Los Angeles Times.

California Times President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Argentieri announced the sale of The Times’ sister publication to an affiliate of the Denver-based MediaNews Group, which is owned by controversial New York investment firm Alden Global Capital.

Patrick Soon-Shiong

The company did not disclose a purchase price. The surprise sale was finalized Monday.

MediaNews Group separately announced its purchase to the San Diego newsroom, and immediately warned that staff reductions were coming.

“This valued acquisition enables MediaNews Group to advance its stewardship in California as the largest provider of news and information across the state as we continue our commitment to ensure newspapers remain viable well into the future,” Sharon Ryan, executive vice president of the California MediaNews Group, said in the memo.

Soon-Shiong and his family spent $500 million in June 2018 to buy The Times and the Union-Tribune from Chicago-based Tribune Publishing after a decade of turmoil and dramatic cuts to The Times. While Soon-Shiong’s primary interest was in The Times, he pledged support for both newsrooms.

The family “made a good faith effort to rebuild and support both news organizations,” Soon-Shiong said in a statement.

In the five years since the purchase, the newspaper industry has become more fraught due to subscriber losses and shortfalls in advertising revenue that intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years ago, Tribune sold its operations, including the Chicago Tribune, to Alden for $633 million.

Alden already owns more than 70 dailies across the country, including the Orange County Register, Long Beach Press-Telegram and Los Angeles Daily News.