Owner of L.A. Daily News and other local newspapers exploring sale
Digital First Media, the owner of the Los Angeles Daily News and other newspapers across the country, said it will explore the sale of its publications.
Facing a shifting outlook for print publications, Chief Executive John Paton said Friday that the company is looking at options to boost value for stockholders.
“The news information industry in America is undergoing a period of seismic change, defined by the need to consolidate to rapidly compete in a digital world,” he said in a statement.
The nation’s second-largest newspaper chain said UBS Securities LLC will be its financial advisor and Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP its legal advisor as it explores “strategic alternatives.”
Digital First said those alternatives include the sale of the entire company, the sale of “one or more regional clusters or the continued execution of its business plan.”
The company, based in New York, has 76 daily newspapers and 160 weekly publications. Besides the L.A. Daily News, other publications include the San Jose Mercury News, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Daily Breeze and the Denver Post.
Digital First said it has not set a timeline for completing its review process.
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