Berkshire Hathaway

Hedge fund Alden Global Capital makes $24 per share, all-cash offer to buy Lee Enterprises, Inc.

Hedge fund Alden Global Capital today (11/22) made an unsolicited all-cash offer of $24 per share to acquire Davenport-based Lee Enterprises, Inc. with its 77 daily newspapers including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Buffalo News, and local Quad City newspapers, the Dispatch/Argus and Quad City Times.

Alden acquired Tribune Publishing earlier this year. That publishing group includes the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Orange County Register, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun and the Mercury News (San Jose, CA).

Lee posts $1.3 million loss in 4th quarter and fiscal year; huge debt continues to dog financial results

If only Lee Enterprises, owner of the Quad City Times and Dispatch/Argus, wasn't $538 million in debt.

It would have had $47 million more in income during the past fiscal year to invest back into its 77 newspapers and news web site markets.

And in the fourth quarter ended Sept. 27, the company would have had $12.4 million less in interest expenses, resulting in an $11.1-million profit rather than a $1.3 million loss.

Lee Enterprises reports $5 million 2nd quarter loss

Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times and Dispatch/Argus – has reported a $5 million loss (9 cents per share) for the second quarter ended March 29. That was nearly double the loss ($2.3 million, 5 cents per share) for the same period a year ago.

Lee President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mowbray in the company's earnings news release June 18 stated he was "pleased to announce our solid second quarter financial results."

Lee Enterprises to buy Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper business; $576-million Berkshire loan to finance deal and refinance existing Lee debt

Lee Enterprises announced today (1/29) it would acquire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway newspaper group for $140 million with the help of a $576-million loan from Berkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper group, BH Media, operates 31 daily newspapers and their online news sites, and Lee has managed those properties since July 2018.

The Berkshire Hathaway loan will not only pay for Lee's acquisition of BH Media, but refinance Lee's existing $435 million debt and provide sufficient cash to terminate Lee's existing revolving credit line.

No one home at the REAL Coalition; MidAmerican admits to being part of 'solar tax' lobbying campaign

Iowa's largest utility MidAmerican Energy got $308 million in state and federal tax credits in 2018 for generating wind energy, then hid behind a front organization called the REAL Coalition to push legislation to add a tax on customers who install rooftop solar panels.

The utility admits it is a member of the shadowy lobbying organization. However, that's about the only thing the privately held utility – part of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway run by Warren Buffett – will disclose about the secretive lobbying effort.

Lee Enterprises signs deal to manage Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper, digital operations

Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times and 48 other media properties – today (6/26) announced it has agreed to a five-year deal to manage Berkshire Hathaway's newspapers and digital operations in 30 markets.

Davenport-based Lee would be paid $5 million a year by GH Media, plus "a significant percentage of profits over benchmarks," according to the company's news release.

Lee stocked jumped 62 cents, nearly 26 percent, to $3.03 per share in early morning trading.

Lee pays off Berkshire Hathaway debt early; lays off eight St. Louis Post-Dispatch news employees

In an interesting coincidence involving Lee Enterprises' largest newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Davenport-based media firm announced it had paid off debt related to acquisition of that paper in 2005, while confirming today (6/26) it was laying off eight St. Louis newsroom employees.

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