Lee to acquire BH Media

They no longer have one in Omaha? That's where my last Lee paper was designed.

Oh, and, obligatory "Did Warren give Mary a kickback" post.

EDIT: Props to SportsGuyBKC ...

 

I suspect sections will be combined and positions eliminated. Lee talked of 20-25 million in synergies which means they are planning to fire people.

 

And now Alden Global Capital slithering into Lee:

Alden Global Capital has sunk its claws into yet another newspaper company: Lee

 

Lee has managed the BH properties under contract for the last 18 months or so for Berkshire. Buffett said at that time Lee was better at digital than BH. Does Lee offer a better digital product than other chains or are BH papers particularity bad at digital?

 

A little, not much.

Almost all hubs.

 

Scary. Heartbreaking. Buffett championed local papers. Going back to work for Lee makes me vomit in my mouth.

I was laid off once. Maybe it’s time to look for another career.

 

Check out the Journal Star website. It’s better than it used to be but nothing to write home about.

 

They bought the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and have steadily lost money on it, unless circumstances have changed in the past few years.

 

I hear ya.

 

Lee will change that right quick.

 

The World-Herald isn’t going anywhere. It’s a much better product than LJS, even with Lee managing it.

 

The EBITDA at Lee has been running at a of about 22-23% of revenues. This is much higher than most other chains which run rates of about 102%. For the company to generate that much cash I would think the Post-Dispatch would have a positive EBITDA.

Lee paid 1.46 billion for the Pulitzer papers and was crushed by the interest costs on the debt. But on an operating basis the Post-Dispatch generates positive EBITDA.

And when I looked up these numbers I read that Pulitzer, in 2004, had revenues of over 440 million. Current Lee revenues, which is a combination of old Lee and Pu;itzer, are only slightly higher, about 500 million dollars.