NEW YORK - Newspaper publisher Knight Ridder has agreed to sell itself to far smaller newspaper rival McClatchy for about US$4.5 billion ($7 billion) in cash and stock, the New York Times reported late yesterday, citing people involved in the negotiations.
Knight Ridder's board has been weighing bids received in an auction urged by the largest shareholder of the publisher, a source said.
A consortium consisting of Bain Capital, Hellman & Friedman, Texas Pacific Group, and Thomas H. Lee Partners placed a bid for the publisher by last Thursday's deadline, other sources have said.
Knight Ridder publishes the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News and 30 other daily newspapers.
McClatchy's publications include the Sacramento Bee and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Knight Ridder shares climbed into the US$60 range in November after its largest shareholder, Private Capital Management, began urging a sale.
Pressure for a sale came as its papers struggled with falling revenues and high newsprint and worker costs.
- REUTERS
Newspaper publisher sold to rival - report
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