Newspaper Roundup: DJ Settlement; Star Tribune; NCT Buyout; McClatchy Downgrade; Bruce Sherman
February 15, 2008
-- Dow Jones: As tipped last month, the SEC has settled an insider trading complaint against ex-Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) director David Li and certain affiliated parties. Li was alleged to have passed on news of News Corp.'s bid for Dow Jones to friends, and though he won't admit to wrongdoing, he will pay an $8.1 million fine. Affiliate Michael Lueng, who traded with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, will pay another $16.2 million. Statement.
-- Star Tribune: The Minneapolis daily has laid off 58 staffers - about 3 percent of the newspaper's workforce. Most of the jobs are in the circulation department; no reporting positions are being affected. The paper, which was sold off by The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) in 2006, also handed down an indefinite wage freeze for all its nonunion employees, which will affect about 600 in total. The Star Tribune's revenues have declined nearly $75 million in the past two years.
-- North County Times: The North County Times newspaper, which covers North San Diego County, has begun offering voluntary newsroom buyouts. In response to the weakening economy, the paper is looking for 20 volunteers to take the buyouts, though it has not announced contingency plans, in the event its target is not met. The paper is a division of Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE). The news comes a day after major reductions were announced at Tribune. (via NC Times)
-- McClatchy: The newspaper publisher had its default credit rating downgraded by Fitch from BB+ to just BB. The announcement goes into some depth on the reasons for the dongrade, but the bottom line is that McClatchy is a "strong operator", but not so strong that it can swim against the tides of the industry. Also, there's an interesting comment on the fear that the company may be pressured to do something drastic: "??? while Fitch recognizes that companies with dual-class stock structures may be somewhat insulated from shareholder activist-driven event risk, we are cautious that boards of directors and management teams may still be similarly pressured to consider management-lead buyouts (MBOs), other leveraging transactions or large-scale digital acquisitions to attempt to boost their companies' share prices." Release.
-- Private Capital Management: Bruce Sherman, the investor who spearheaded Knight Ridder's sale to McClatchy, has washed his hands of the newspaper industry. The latest filing from his fund Private Capital Management has no holdings in newspaper stocks. Just last quarter, the company held stakes in NYTCo (NYSE: NYT) and McClatchy, although by then he had eliminated his holdings in Belo (NYSE: BLC), Gannett (NYSE: GCI), Media General (NYSE: MEG), and Lee Enterprises. (via E&P)
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