Gannett May Join Bid for Knight
From Reuters
Gannett Co. appears to have dropped out as an independent bidder for all of Knight Ridder Inc. and may instead try to join a group seeking to buy the San Jose-based newspaper company, said people close to the sale process.
Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, was expected to be a top contender in the auction. But Gannett skipped a meeting with Knight Ridder this week to go over the company’s financial data, a sign it will not bid independently, the sources said.
Instead, Gannett may try to forge an agreement with Denver-based publisher MediaNews Group Inc. and its partners, the sources said. MediaNews has been working on a bid with buyout firms Vestar Capital Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Onex Corp.
