Chatham Asset Management Successfully Bids For Miami Herald Publisher McClatchy Co

Chatham Asset Management has won a court-supervised auction for McClatchy Co. (OTC: MNIQQ), the bankrupt publisher of the Miami Herald, it announced Sunday.

What Happened

Chatham will still need to win court approval at a hearing scheduled for July 24, and clear other regulatory hurdles.

The hedge fund’s proposed deal will allow McClatchy to emerge from bankruptcy in the third quarter, the company said.

The second-largest publisher of newspapers in the United States had entered bankruptcy protection in February.

Why It Matters

At the time of entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the publisher had plans to restructure $700 million in debt as well as its pension obligations.

McClatchy started as a family business in 1857 and went public in 1988.

The company’s Class A stock was suspended from trading in February. McClatchy did not appeal the delisting determination by the NYSE American.

McClatchy said it will contribute $1.4 billion in pension assets to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federally chartered corporation, and will let the federal agency assume its qualified pension plan.

Price Action

On Friday, McClatchy’s shares closed 4% higher at $0.13 in the otc market.