Posted on 03/20/2006 3:56:13 AM PST by abb
Bruce Sherman, the Knight Ridder shareholder who launched the crusade to force a sale of Knight Ridder, paid an average of $65 a share for his stock; the sales price was $67.25.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Nearly five months after Knight Ridder's largest shareholder launched a crusade to force a sale of the San Jose company, Bruce Sherman's efforts appear to have earned him mixed results.
On Monday, Sherman apparently got his wish when McClatchy announced it would buy Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper company.
But the price -- $67.25 a share in the $4.5 billion deal -- is well below historic premiums paid for newspapers. And it means that for all his trouble, Sherman -- who paid an average of $65 a share for his stock -- will barely break even on his Knight Ridder investment.
Even that modest victory is not assured because Sherman and other shareholders will be paid with a mix of cash and McClatchy stock, which has fallen 3.8 percent since the deal was announced. In addition, Sherman has seen his sizable McClatchy holdings lose $55.6 million in value since the beginning of the year when the company emerged as a bidder for Knight Ridder.
Going forward, Sherman will become the largest shareholder in the new and substantially bigger McClatchy, with 20 percent of the publicly traded stock. But analysts project McClatchy's stock will be stuck in neutral for some time as it focuses on paying down the sizable debt it used to finance the Knight Ridder deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...
True, but in this case, the profit's only a profit if McClatchy stock stays afloat long enough for him to sell it.
It's possible that a drowning man has latched on to an anchor.
LOL. Could be good news all around. This definitely cools any ardor for future newspaper buyouts/bailouts. As evidenced by the stocks of all newspapers going down all last week, even as the dow went up...
Henry Berghoef, research director at Harris Associates and one of the dissident shareholders that pushed for the sale of Knight Ridder, defended the result. He noted that the price is well above the $52.76 that the stock traded at before the revolt.
If that rag they call the Philadelphia Inquirer goes bust, I will fly to Philly just to laugh at the dems that I know there.
Anybody know what the political leanings of the new owner are?
.....Anybody know what the political leanings of the new owner are?.....
Neutral of course. All newspaper owners are unbiased and apolitical.
McClatchy's "flagship paper" (whatever that is) is the Sacramento Bee. I don't read that paper much, but I suspect it's just another liberal rag....
If it's the Sacramento Bee we can expect more of the same.
I love it when the Old Media require two reporters to write one story and then complain about layoffs.
check this out. More good news..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1599537/posts
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