Blethen buyer grabs the reins
Photo/Courtesy Savvy Inc.
Richard Connor says he needs $10 million in private equity financing to complete the deal to buy Blethen Maine Newspapers
The well-connected constituents of an investment group seeking to buy Blethen Maine Newspapers may make headlines, but the less recognizable architect of the deal has made one thing clear: He's running the show.
Richard Connor approached former Defense Secretary William Cohen; Bob Baldacci, the governor's brother; and Portland developer Michael Liberty more than a year ago in his bid for Maine's largest newspaper company, the Bangor native told Mainebiz.
But now that Connor has teamed up with HM Capital Partners of Dallas, Texas, to buy Blethen from the Seattle Times Co., the big-name men who make up Maine Media Investment LLC are taking a lower profile.
"Maine Media is now the background," Connor stressed. "While there's still investment in terms of giving advice, the deal is being run by HM Capital with me."
The men proved invaluable in securing financing and arranging the deal, but their work here is largely done, Connor said. The trio may not even contribute equity in the venture. "The deal is still together with me leading it because of Maine Media," he said.
Connor has partnered with HM Capital before, when it was the lead investor in his $65 million purchase in 2006 of the Times Leader newspaper of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., from the McClatchy Co. He now serves as that paper's editor and publisher. He also has been publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas, and in the 1990s founded a company that owned two dailies and 70 weeklies in four states. If the Blethen deal is completed, Connor would oversee holdings including the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and MaineToday.com.
Connor hopes to complete the sale within 30 to 45 days, but admits he's uttered that timeframe half a dozen times by now. Maine Media had hoped to close on the purchase by the end of last year, but in late December extended the deadline by another month to line up financing.
"I've been making newspaper deals for over 10 years," he said. "They tend to come together and fall apart, come together and fall apart. Then, one day, the deal is made or it isn't." Still, he added, the Blethen purchase is more likely to happen now than ever before.
For a more in-depth look at Connor's history as a newspaperman and media buyer, make sure to check out the Feb. 23 issue of Mainebiz.
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