The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, sold the San Diego Union-Tribune to MediaNews Group, a chain controlled by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital.
The sale was announced Monday by Soon-Shiong’s California Times company. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.
The new owners plan to eliminate jobs as part of their takeover of the San Diego newspaper, citing the need to improve efficiency in business operations, distribution and production.
Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, spent $500 million in June 2018 to buy the Times and the Union-Tribune from Chicago-based Tribune Publishing, the newspaper reported.
MediaNews operates about 70 newspapers across the country, including three in the greater Los Angeles area. Alden acquired the Chicago Tribune and NY Daily News in 2021. The hedge fund is known for hollowing out newsrooms to boost profit, the Times said at the time.
(Updates with job cut plans in third paragraph.)
