The company that owns the Chicago Tribune said Tuesday that Michael Ferro Jr., its former chairman, has sold his shares to a buyer known for slashing payrolls at other newspapers it controls, Alden Global Capital.
Tribune Publishing Co. said in a regulatory filing that Alden purchased 9.07 million shares from Ferro and his company, Merrick Ventures, for $13 per share. The nearly $118 million purchase represents a 25.2% stake in the company and will make Alden the largest shareholder of Tribune Publishing. Its shares ended Tuesday’s trading at $9.73.
Alden will name two members of the Tribune Publishing board, which will expand from six to eight people, the company said.
Alden is a New York-based hedge fund that owns a large chain of print publications — including the Denver Post, The Mercury News of San Jose and the St. Paul Pioneer Press —called Media News Group, formerly Digital First Media. It is known for its steep cost cutting that has reduced local news coverage.
Ferro stepped down from his chairmanship of Tribune Publishing, which was then called Tronc, in 2018 just as Fortune magazine was publishing a story quoting two women accusing him of sexual harassment. However, he remained Tribune Publishing’s largest shareholder.
He formerly led the Sun-Times as chairman of Wrapports. In 2017, Wrapports sold the Sun-Times and other assets to a group of unions assembled by the Chicago Federation of Labor, as well as private investors.
