Local Group Emerges, Eyes St. Paul Paper

By: Mark Fitzgerald While speculation about the fate of the dozen papers being spun out of Knight Ridder sale has centered on both coasts of the country--with bids reported for papers in Philadelphia and northern California--little has been said about who might want the four well-regarded Plains states newspapers.

The four papers--the Aberdeen (S.D.) American News; Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald; Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune; and St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press--are all targets of the only confirmed bidder for all 12 papers, the intriguing Yucaipa bid backed by The Newspaper Guild.

But the Minneaspolis Star Tribune reported late Wednesday that a group of Twin Cities investors is interested in buying the St. Paul paper. The group's spokesman, John Wodele, said, "We've been able to attract a group of local investors who are very interested in keeping the Pioneer Press a viable entity in the St. Paul community."

He declined to identify members of the group.

"Our approach is a business approach, but the investors we've been able to attract are interested from a civic point of view," he told the Star Tribune. The group has not yet submitted a bid, but Wodele added, "We've been in communication with the investment bankers who are handling the deal for McClatchy and have been told that the opportunity to be in the game is still there."

Two natural suitors for at least three of the nearby papers wouldn?t say Wednesday whether they submitted bids.

Lee Enterprises, which only last year acted much like The McClatchy Co. in buying a far bigger chain, Pulitzer Inc., is known for its profitable operation of Midwestern papers much like the properties in the Dakotas and Duluth. (The Pioneer Press, just across the Mississippi River from McClatchy?s market-leading Minneapolis Star Tribune, would not fit the typical Lee newspaper profile.)

But spokesperson Dan Hayes wouldn?t say Wednesday whether Lee was after any of the papers. Lee, he said, has a strict policy of never commenting on possible deals ?regardless of whether we might be doing something or have no interest whatsoever.?

Forum Communications is far smaller than Lee, but has been growing steadily from its headquarters at The Forum daily newspaper in Fargo, N.D. The Marcil family-owned Forum is a multimedia company with television and radio stations plus commercial printing operations in addition to its four dailies in the Dakotas and four Minnesota papers.

Forum CFO John Hajostek, reached Wednesday morning, said President and CEO William C. Marcil was the only executive who could comment, and he was away in Arizona--and not talking. ?He?s getting calls on this all the time,? Hajostek said, ?and his standard answer is ?no comment.??

Elsewhere, the bids remain shrouded in mystery and secrecy. One report has Gannett passing completely on the 12 papers. Others say MediaNews Group had made a last-minute bid--probably, and unconfirmed.