An effort by the media company that owns The Mercury News and East Bay Times to win seats on the board of the nation's largest newspaper group has failed.
Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that is the controlling owner of news company MediaNews Group Enterprises Inc., said Thursday that it "did not prevail" in its attempt to seat a slate of directors to the board of Gannett Co., part of a months-long attempt to add Gannett to its news portfolio. MNG Enterprises Inc., also known as Digital First Media, includes news organizations such as the Orange County Register, Denver Post, and Boston Herald.
MNG made an unsolicited, $1.4 billion bid to take over Gannett Co. in January, announcing it had acquired approximately 7.5% of Gannett Co.'s outstanding shares. Gannett Co. rejected the initial bid, and the process evolved into a proxy fight, with MNG putting forward six candidates to replace Gannett directors _ a slate that MNG eventually cut in half.
But Gannett Co., the owner of USA Today and more than 100 daily newspapers, announced Thursday that it had retained control of its board of directors with shareholders re-electing all eight Gannett-backed nominees and rejecting all three nominees put forward by MNG.
