Alden Global Capital, a New York-based hedge fund, has purchased the Journal Register Co. (JRC), which publishes more than 100 newspapers and magazines in 10 states, including the Trentonian.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Alden, which specializes in distressed debt has been an investor in Yardley-based Journal Register since its 2009 bankruptcy filing, when the company filed for bankruptcy. Alden also is the company that helped finance the purchase of the Philadelphia inquirer and Daily News last year.
JRC has not stated whether the company will remain based in Yardley, or whether John Paton will remain the CEO of Journal Register Co.
Paton said the deal for JRC “demonstrates Alden’s confidence in our business model.” Paton, who took over JRC in 2010, is considered a poster child of the digital-first school of news delivery. Paton’s approach has been to put content together for the Internet first and then cue up stories for the print publications.
The approach is the opposite of what news outlets traditionally have done and, Paton writes in his blog Digital First (jxpaton.wordpress.com is a vital aspect of JRC’s recovery. According to JRC, the digital-first approach turned the company from bankrupt in 2009 to one that earned $41 million in 2010
