The Morning Call, Oct. 18

Newspaper chain McClatchy not interested in more mergers

By Kurt Blumenau
Of The Morning Call

McClatchy Co., the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, is not interested in buying rival Tribune Co., McClatchy's chief executive officer told analysts Oct. 17.

CEO Gary Pruitt said McClatchy, of Sacramento, Calif., is "not in the acquisition hunt" following its purchase this year of Knight Ridder. McClatchy kept 20 of Knight Ridder's 32 daily newspapers and sold the rest, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. McClatchy is too busy integrating its new papers to consider additional deals, Pruitt said.

"We are not looking at Tribune, or any other situation for that matter," Pruitt said on a conference call.

Tribune, of Chicago, publishes The Morning Call and 10 other daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday of Long Island. It also owns 23 television stations, cable superstation WGN and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons, under pressure from dissatisfied shareholders, last month appointed a committee of independent directors to look at strategic alternatives for the company. The committee is expected to report back by year's end.

The flagship Chicago Tribune has reported that top Tribune officials want to spin off most of the company's TV stations, sell some of its smaller newspapers and take the remaining operations private through a leveraged buyout. The Tribune has also reported that MediaNews Group, the Denver publishing company headed by William Dean Singleton, has spoken with Tribune in the past about a possible deal to buy The Morning Call and Tribune newspapers in Connecticut. Tribune officials declined to comment on those reports.

The Morning Call is the Lehigh Valley's largest newspaper. It employs about 875 people in Lehigh and Northampton counties, ranking it among the Valley's 30 largest employers. McClatchy owns one newspaper in Pennsylvania, the Centre Daily Times in State College. It owns 32 daily papers.

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