Hollinger International to Sell 11 Daily Papers

Hollinger International Inc., owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, reached agreements to sell its remaining U.S. community newspapers for $215 million as it moves to reduce debt. The buyers are Bradford Publications Co., Newspaper Holdings Inc., Paxton Media Group Inc. and Forum Communications Co. The sales involve 11 dailies, three weeklies and 21 shoppers in 10 states. Chicago-based Hollinger didn’t break down which company is buying which paper. The weeklies include the Inyo Register in Bishop, Calif., and the Mammoth Times in Mammoth Lakes. Hollinger International is a unit of Toronto-based Hollinger Inc., which is controlled by Canadian media executive Conrad Black. Hollinger on Monday agreed to sell most of its Canadian newspaper and other media assets to Canadian broadcaster CanWest Global Communications Corp. for $2.3 billion. Shares of Hollinger International closed off 6 cents at $16.13 on the NYSE.