A few weeks ago, hedge fund Alden Global Capital LLC in New York was on the verge of acquiring Tribune Publishing Co. for sale – a home to the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other U.S. subway newspapers – with apparently no one in the way.
After that, it insulted one of its partners in the deal and started a fight that could help shape the future of local news in America.
Maryland hotel magnate Stewart Bainum Jr. worked out a side arrangement with Alden CEO Heath Freeman to buy the Sun, an article that Bainum grew up reading. According to Mr. Bainum was trying to increase Alden’s cost of a fee deal that would significantly increase the price, people close to the situation said.
Mr. Bainum told his advisers in the late afternoon of Friday, March 12, that he was concerned that he could no longer trust Alden, according to a person familiar with the matter.
That evening, the 74-year-old called his bankers and decided to embark on an amazing 11th-hour walk: his own bid for the entire company, which he announced by the end of the weekend.