SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The bankrupt owner of the Orange County Register has decided to sell to Digital First Media after a judge blocked a larger bid by the owner of the Los Angeles Times, an attorney said Saturday.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The bankrupt owner of the Orange County Register has decided to sell to Digital First Media after a judge blocked a larger bid by the owner of the Los Angeles Times, an attorney said Saturday.
Freedom Communications will ask a federal bankruptcy judge on Monday to confirm and approve the sale and the deal will close by March 31, William Lobel, an attorney representing Freedom, said in an email.
The move caps a whirlwind of last-minute legal scrabbling to decide the fate of Freedom.
The once-thriving regional powerhouse, which also owns the Riverside Press-Enterprise, found itself mired in debt after doubling down on newspaper production in a digital age.
Tribune Publishing Co. won an auction for the newspaper group Wednesday with a bid of $56 million.
Digital First, which owns nine Southern California papers and websites, was runner-up with $45.5 million.
On Thursday, however, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit to prevent the sale, arguing that it would give Tribune a monopoly over newspaper sales in the region.