Knight Ridder's shareholders today voted to sell the company to Sacramento-based McClatchy, ending the 32-year run of one of America's premier newspaper companies.
The votes were tallied at the company's annual meeting at San Jose's Fairmont Hotel, a few steps from the company's soon-to-be vacated headquarters. Eighty percent of shareholders needed to approve the deal, and the company said preliminary tallies have overcome that bar.
``Our heritage, our values, our collaborative culture, our talented people, our distinguished newspapers, our online innovation and our place in our community have added up to something unique,'' said Knight Ridder Chairman and Chief Executive Tony Ridder, who became emotional toward the end his speech. ``Tomorrow, as new owners assume the mantle for what we have built, we should take pride in the strength of that legacy.''
The value of the deal, originally $4.5 billion in cash and stock, has fallen about 9 percent -- roughly $400 million -- since it was announced on March 13, after a sharp drop in McClatchy's stock, which was at another 52-week low this morning.
McClatchy and Knight Ridder executives hope to sign off on final merger documents by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
At that point, Knight Ridder, which was formed in 1974 by the merger of Knight Newspapers and Ridder Publications and grew into the second-largest newspaper chain in America, will cease to exist. The company won numerous journalism awards, including 85 Pulitzer Prizes.
Shares of both closed slightly lower: KRI $60.02 from $60.85 and MNI $40.45 from $41.60
Nothing posted as of this late hour on Ohio.com. Click on the headline above to read Pete Carey's full story in the San Jose Mercury News.
Or read the AP story
Monday, June 26, 2006
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From the Contra Costa Times:
"I used to tell reporters that Knight Ridder was by far the best chain in the country if you had to work for a chain," said Steve Isaacs, a journalism professor at Columbia University and the author of "Paper
Dynasties: The Rise and Fall of America's Great Newspaper Families."
Once Jim Batten, the last prominent executive from Knight Newspapers, left as CEO in 1995 "forget it. The whole thing came asunder because of bad business decisions and panic," Isaacs said.
"It's sad because a newspaper, or a chain in this case, is not just like a pickle company. It's got a personality. It's got a life force," he said.
"It was a real classy chain. They were in business to make good journalism, and the Ridders destroyed it."
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