Business

July 31, 2008

Connor, group eye Maine papers

The Times Leader’s editor and publisher and investor group seek to buy 3 dailies, other publications.

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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The editor and publisher of The Times Leader and a group of investors announced Wednesday they’ve signed a letter of intent granting them exclusive rights to negotiate the purchase of several newspapers in Maine. The Web site www.MaineToday.com would also be part of any sale.

Richard L. Connor has partnered with William S. Cohen, a former U.S. senator from Maine who served as Secretary of Defense during President Bill Clinton’s second term, Cohen’s son Kevin and Portland, Maine, businessmen Michael Liberty and Robert Baldacci in the effort to purchase Blethen Maine Newspapers.

Blethen Maine Newspapers, a unit of The Seattle Times Co., owns three daily newspapers – Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville – and a number of non-daily print publications. The Portland Press Herald is the state’s largest-circulation newspaper. The Herald has gone through four rounds of layoffs in the past year, according to a July 18 story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

According to The Seattle Times, which announced in March that it was putting the newspaper group up for sale, The Blethen Maine Newspapers publications have about 500 employees and combined circulation of roughly 101,000 daily and 136,900 Sunday.

Frank Blethen, chairman of the newspaper group up for sale, said he’s hopeful the sale can come to fruition.

In a news release, Blethen said, “This locally backed ownership group would provide a favorable outcome for the community, our readers, our employees and the Blethen family.”

Connor, who owns property outside of his native Bangor, Maine, said the decision by the partnership to attempt to purchase the newspaper group was “driven by our love of Maine and the chance to have local people and the employees of this company determine the future destiny of these newspapers in the state.”

No timetable has been disclosed regarding how long the group has to negotiate for the purchase, though the release said “both parties are hoping to conclude this process as quickly as possible.” No price tag for a potential purchase was divulged in the release and Connor declined a request for more information.

“Because of a confidentiality agreement, I am unable to go beyond what is outlined in the press release,” he said.

Connor assembled a group of investors that formed Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. in July 2006 to purchase The Times Leader for $65 million from The McClatchy Co., which owned it briefly after purchasing the Knight Ridder newspaper chain. In addition to the daily newspaper, the company publishes The Weekender, The Sunday Dispatch in Pittston, The Dallas Post, The Abington Journal in Clarks Summit and the Hazleton-based Spanish-language El Mensajaro.

The local investors are not involved in the Maine venture, the release stated.

A story on Crosscut.com, a Northwest United States news site, indicates The Seattle Times borrowed $230 million in 1998 to buy the three Maine dailies and the MaineToday.com Web site. One holdup in any new deal for the papers and Web site could be an ongoing dispute over the interpretation of a successor clause in the company’s contract with the Portland Newspaper Guild. The disagreement may be resolved through pending legal action.

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