Bids for Pulitzer Due Monday; Gannett, Lee Seen as Top Contenders

By: E&P Staff With final bids due on Monday, Gannett Co. and Lee Enterprises Inc. are early favorites to win an auction for Pulitzer Inc., according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal.

Pulitzer, which owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, and a dozen other dailies, is expected to go for about $1.5 billion, plus the assumption of about $300 million in debt, the paper guessed.

However, the paper speculated that the Pulitzer deal might be "too big" for Lee. And it noted that Gannett faces "a few wrinkles," including its ownership of a TV staton in St. Louis.