Excerpt
A prominent San Diego real estate developer said Thursday that he agreed to buy the city's dominant newspaper, marking the publication's second ownership change in less than three years.
Doug Manchester agreed to pay more than $110 million, said John Lynch, a longtime local radio executive who was hired by Manchester to help run the 143-year-old San Diego Union-Tribune. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Platinum Equity LLC paid less than $50 million for the newspaper in 2009.
The transaction is expected to be completed by Dec. 15.
Manchester, who likes to be called "Papa Doug," often has been the subject of the newspaper's stories, including a front-page piece this month on the California Coastal Commission giving a cold shoulder to his plans for a $1.3 billion hotel and office complex on the city's downtown waterfront. He has been a key player in the city's downtown renaissance.
Politically conservative, Manchester, 69, donated $125,000 to a successful 2008 campaign to ban gay marriage in California. His efforts to pass Proposition 8 sparked a boycott from some gay rights activists at his Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel, whose twin towers are among the downtown skyline's most recognized buildings. He since sold his interest in the hotel.
"We look forward to building on the foundation that has been established by current management and ownership, serving the community and working towards a fully integrated digital and print news media platform," Manchester said in a statement.
Lynch said in an interview that Manchester had no plans for big changes at the newspaper and that it would stay put at its sprawling office and printing plant in the city's Mission Valley area, where it sits amid a slew of hotels and next to one of the region's most popular shopping malls. He said the newspaper is "quite profitable" but declined to be more specific.
"We believe it's a very vital business and it ought to be in the hands of local San Diegans," Lynch said.
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