MediaNews Buy in California Boosted by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Posted Monday, August 21, 2006 12:00 am

By: E&P Staff The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation extended its charity work, in a sense, to the MediaNews Group in helping finance its recent purchase of several California newspapers.

MediaNews obtained a financing package from a group of lenders that enabled the newspaper company to borrow up to $597 million to help finance its acquisitions of the San Jose Mercury News and others papers, according to a MediaNews filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The syndicate of lenders included the Gates Foundation, General Electric Capital Corp. and several financial and other organizations.

The filing also disclosed that Hearst Corp., owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, made a $299 million equity investment in MediaNews in the complicated deal.

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MediaNews Buy in California Boosted by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

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