'San Diego UT' Wants to Buy 'Orange County Register'

The-Orange-County-Register-AThe privately held media company that owns the San Diego Union-Tribune is in negotiations to buy The Orange County Register along with 24 community newspapers owned by Freedom Communications, according to a number of local press reports citing comments made by San Diego Union-Tribune CEO John Lynch at a meeting of a local civic organization. The deal would also include Coast magazine, another publication owned by Freedom.

The news comes about six months after the San Diego Union-Tribune itself was sold by Platinum Equity to MLIM, LLC, a company owned by San Diego real estate developer Doug Manchester. That deal was announced in November 2011; in March of this year, Manchester hinted that he was interested in acquiring the OC Register as well as the North County Times, another regional daily.

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Freedom Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2009, then exited bankruptcy in April 2010 (with its total debt of $775 million reduced by $425 million) under new ownership including Alden Global Capital, Angelo Gordon & Co. and Luxor Capital Group. More recently, the company paid off its remaining debt of over $300 million by selling a number of TV stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

According to the most recent report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Orange County Register had a total average circulation of 280,812 in the six-month period ending March 2012 -- up from 182,964 in 2011, due in large part to new digital and branded editions. Over the same period, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s total average circ increased from 218,614 to 230,742, again thanks mostly to digital editions.

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