OMAHA, Neb. — Newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises is asking its shareholders to help it fight off a hostile takeover offer from “vulture hedge fund” Alden Global Capital.
Lee Enterprises is the publisher of the Omaha World-Herald and dozens of other newspapers, including nearly every daily newspaper in Nebraska. It also owns Council Bluffs-based The Daily Nonpareil as well as other mid-sized market newspapers such as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Buffalo News. Lee sent a letter to shareholders Monday asking them to support its board nominees in the dispute with Alden. The hedge fund owns other well-known newspapers including the Denver Post and the Boston Herald.
Lee, which is based in Davenport, Iowa, already rejected Alden’s $24 per share offer because it said the $141 million bid grossly undervalues Lee, but the two sides are locked in a court battle over whether Alden will be able to nominate its own directors. Earlier this month, shares of Lee Enterprises hit a five-year high at just over $43 per share.
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