Two Louisville Papers Sold for $300 Million

A family newspaper dynasty going back nearly 70 years ended today with the announcement of the sale of the Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times to Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper group.

An intense quarrel within the powerful Bingham family resulted in the decision to sell the media empire, which includes broadcast and printing companies as well as the prestigious morning Courier-Journal.

The formal announcement of the newspaper sale ended weeks of speculation.

“It is not easy for me to see The Courier-Journal and Louisville Times pass from my family into other hands,” said family patriarch Barry Bingham Sr., chairman of the board of the newspapers. “Change is an inevitable rule of life, however.”

‘Give or Take a Few Million’

Gannett Chairman Allen H. Neuharth said he wrote a check for “$300 million, give or take a few million,” for the newspapers, which analysts had valued at between $200 million and $300 million.

The Courier-Journal had reported in a copyright story today that other companies making bids on the newspapers included the Washington Post Co. and the Tribune Co. of Chicago. Others interested in the newspapers were said to be the New York Times Co. and the Hearst Corp.

Gannett, based in Arlington, Va., owns 91 dailies including USA Today. In 1985, the company acquired the Detroit News and the Des Moines Register, and Neuharth said acquiring the Courier-Journal was “like winning the Triple Crown.”

The Bingham newspapers, with a circulation of nearly 300,000, had been owned by the Binghams since 1918, and were awarded eight Pulitzer prizes.

Tension Within Family

Bingham Sr., 80, had announced Jan. 9 that the companies were for sale.

Media coverage surrounding the sale focused on tension among Bingham family members, especially Barry Jr., editor and publisher of the newspapers since 1971, and his sister Sallie, who said she had come to feel that the women of the family were not welcome in management.

In late 1983, Bingham Jr. sought to remove his mother, wife and two sisters from the board of directors, saying they were inattentive or did not go to meetings. Sallie fought and lost, then announced that she wanted to sell her 15% interest in the three companies.