So there are newspaper buyers out there - as long as the price is right. A California private-equity firm has clinched a deal to buy the San Diego Union-Tribune, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills firm specialising in distressed deals, has led the acquisition of the paper, which has been up for sale since July. David Black, owner of the Akron Beacon Journal and a string of Canadian papers, is also part of the buying consortium.
It is understood that the paper's current owners, Copley Press, have accepted a rock bottom price.
The Union-Tribune sells about 290,000 copies a day and some 370,000 on Sundays. Its sale will give heart to staff of the San Francisco Chronicle, another loss-making Californian paper that could well be sold off later this year.
