Marriage of the giants in the US media industry
The U.S. media conglomerate McClatchy is acquiring its competitor Knight Ridder for $6.5 billion. The acquisition will create the second-largest newspaper group in the United States.
The US media group McClatchy is buying its competitor Knight Ridder for 6.5 billion dollars. The two companies announced this on Monday. The merger will create the second-largest newspaper group in the USA.Knight Ridder is the second-largest newspaper group in the USA in terms of circulation, with 32 daily newspapers and 53 weekly publications. The company publishes daily newspapers such as the Miami Herald and Philadelphia Inquirer. McClatchy owns 12 daily newspapers, including the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the News Observer in Raleigh (North Carolina) and the Sacramento Bee.
According to SDA, the US newspaper market is considered difficult as more and more readers are turning to online media. Knight Ridder was put up for sale at the end of November under pressure from its largest shareholder. Despite the relatively good positioning in the publishing sector, the share price had fallen by over a fifth in the past year until the intervention of the major shareholder, according to NZZ. However, major media companies such as the Washington Post Group or Dow Jones had shown no interest in Knight Ridder. In addition to McClatchy, the largest US newspaper group Gannett (USA Today) was also in the running at times.
According to SDA, the US newspaper market is considered difficult as more and more readers are turning to online media. Knight Ridder was put up for sale at the end of November under pressure from its largest shareholder. Despite the relatively good positioning in the publishing sector, the share price had fallen by over a fifth in the past year until the intervention of the major shareholder, according to NZZ. However, major media companies such as the Washington Post Group or Dow Jones had shown no interest in Knight Ridder. In addition to McClatchy, the largest US newspaper group Gannett (USA Today) was also in the running at times.
