• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, June 1, 2009 9:30 AM

It turns out Platinum Equity's recent deal for the San Diego Union-Tribune wasn't a one-in-a-million event. HM Capital is also pursuing a newspaper transaction -- for Blethen Maine Newspapers, which owns the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and two smaller Maine newspapers. HM is teaming up with Richard L. Connor, editor and publisher of the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader, which HM bought in 2006 from McClatchy Co.

The HM deal is good news for a business that has seen its biggest stars in trouble. HM's plan is to add more pages and increase the local content of the flagship paper. "It used to be a must-read," says an insider. "The hope is to make it into a must-read again."

Blethen's parent company, the Seattle Times Co., announced its plan to sell the Maine papers in March 2008. A person familiar with the situation said talks began about a year ago but hit a roadblock because of the macro-economic environment surrounding the newspaper industry.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »