An investment group led by a former Chicago politician that includes several labor unions has agreed to acquire the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times, that newspaper reported Wednesday.
Former alderman Edwin Eisendrath shepherded a team including corporate finance expert William Brandt, the Chicago Federation of Labor, other unnamed unions and a handful of individuals that placed the winning bid in an auction for Wrapports, the parent of the Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader, which is also part of the deal. Tronc, the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, the city’s other major newspaper, made an offer for Wrapports in May, which prompted the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division to step in and demand the company accept other bids in an effort to hedge against one company controlling a significant amount of media properties in one market. Tronc placed second to Eisendrath’s group, according to the Sun-Times.
In an interview with the Sun-Times, Eisendrath said the paper would take on a pro-worker editorial stance.
“Our investors include more than half a million hardworking people around Chicago, and you can bet we’ll be talking with a voice that resonates with the working class,” Eisendrath told the Sun-Times. “We’re going to organize around that to raise circulation.”
The Sun-Times did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
While Tronc did not end up with ownership of Chicago’s other major newspaper, the two companies remain intertwined — the Tribune has a multi-year contract to print the Sun-Times