Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the country’s largest newspaper chains, will vote Friday on whether to be acquired by a hedge fund that already owns one-third of the company and favors aggressive cost-cutting to boost profits.
The $630 million bid by that hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, has drawn opposition from Tribune journalists at papers including the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant and the New York Daily News.
For more than a year, they have been trying to fend off Alden, whose reputation for squeezing out bigger profit margins is notable even in a shrinking industry characterized by cost cuts and aggressive layoffs.