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Voice Owners Take Tour of TL Buildings: Representatives of Times-Shamrock, Based in Scranton, Are Identified By Times Leader Employees.

Posted on: Saturday, 3 June 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Michael P. Buffer, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

May 22--WILKES-BARRE -- High-level managers from Times-Shamrock Communications newspapers toured the Times Leader's facilities Sunday morning, according to Times Leader employees.

Another source says a former Times Leader publisher is interested in buying the Times Leader and plans to meet today with Times Leader officials and others interested in investing in the deal. The former publisher is not Mark Contreras, publisher from 1994 to 1999, or Dale Duncan, publisher from 1986 to 1994.

Times-Shamrock spokesman Scott Lynett won't say if Scranton-based Times-Shamrock is interested in buying the Times Leader, a Knight Ridder newspaper The McClatchy Co. wants to sell as part of a deal to acquire the Knight Ridder chain.

A Times Leader employee recognized Lynett during Sunday's tour of the Times Leader's buildings, one on North Main Street and one on East Market Street.

"I can't confirm or deny that report," said Lynett, who is also publisher of The Citizens' Voice, the Times Leader's direct competitor.

Donnell Giles, Times Leader vice president of circulation, accompanied about six people walking through the Times Leader newsroom at about 11:15 a.m. Sunday. Giles said a confidentiality agreement prevented him from saying who the people were and what they were doing in the building.

Times Leader President and Publisher Pat McHugh was not in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday morning.

"I am not in a position to discuss who comes through," McHugh said over the phone.

The McClatchy Co. announced in March an agreement to buy the 32-newspaper Knight Ridder chain for about $6.5 billion. The Sacramento-based company said it would keep 20 of the papers and sell the other 12, including the Times Leader.

McClatchy officials are confident deals will be in place to sell all 12 when the sale to buy Knight Ridder is completed this summer, said Howard Weaver, vice president for news at McClatchy. McClatchy has said it expects the sales to generate about $2.15 billion before taxes.

McClatchy has struck a $1 billion deal to sell four of the 12 papers -- San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, The Monterey County Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press -- to MediaNews Group.

Weaver would not say if anti-trust laws prevent Times-Shamrock from buying the Times Leader.

McClatchy immediately decided to sell the St. Paul Pioneer Press because a lawyer concluded owning both the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune in neighboring Minneapolis presented anti-trust problems, Weaver said. McClatchy bought the Star Tribune in 1998 for $1.2 billion.

Representatives from Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., a Birmingham, Ala., chain that owns almost 300 newspapers in 21 states, visited Wilkes-Barre in early May.

The Yucaipa Cos., a California investment firm backing The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, is the only entity that has publicly declared an interest in all Knight Ridder orphans.

Industry experts say the Times Leader is more valuable to Times-Shamrock than other companies because Times-Shamrock would dominate the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre media market with the Times Leader under its control.

Times-Shamrock bought The Citizens' Voice for $5.5 million in 2000. The family-owned company also owns The Times-Tribune in Scranton and radio stations in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market -- ESPN Radio WEJL-AM 630/WBAX-AM 1240, Rock 107 WEZX-FM/WPZX-FM and Oldies 92 & 100 WQFM-FM/WQFN-FM.

On Friday, Weaver said interest remains high for every Knight Ridder newspaper still up for sale. McClatchy is reviewing bids submitted for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. A Knight Ridder story written Sunday evening reported that McClatchy's negotiations to sell The Inquirer and Daily News have progressed to a late stage over the weekend with Philadelphia Media Holdings, a group organized by local advertising and public relations executive Brian P. Tierney, according to a person familiar with the sale. Two other bidders also said it is their understanding McClatchy is close to announcing a decision, but cautioned that circumstances can change even at the final stage.

Michael P. Buffer, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7230.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

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Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

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