Newsroom fears meet buyouts two months after hedge fund buys stake.

Tribune Publishing buyouts are coming. And it didn’t take long for newsroom jitters to become a reality.

Just two months after Alden purchased a 32% stake in the publisher, it has offered buyouts to Tribune employees.

The hedge fund is notorious for reducing employee headcounts and expenses at the publications it purchases.

Tribune Publishing Buyouts and Alden Capital

Just two months ago, Alden purchased a 25% stake from Michael Ferro in November 2019. It further increased its stake and added two board seats in December. As part of that agreement, it cannot hike its stake in Tribune Publishing above 33% until the end of June. 

Tribune Publishing owns the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, and a number of other publications. Further,  the firm has offered voluntary buyout agreements as the broader newspaper and magazine industries deal with declines in audience and advertiser revenue. 

“While it is our desire to retain all of our talented employees, we must confront and plan for the significant financial hurdles ahead,” Tribune Publishing CEO Tim Knight wrote in an email to employees.

Though the firm did not disclose its terms or number of desired cuts to payroll, it did also say that these voluntary offers aim to “avoid turning to company-wide reductions of the workforce as a last resort.”

It also appears that the concerns about Alden Capital became self-fulfilling prophecies. Following Alden’s initial stake, the Chicago Tribune Guild, a newsroom union, said, “We are deeply concerned about Alden Global Capital’s new stake in Tribune Publishing.”

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