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March 13, 2009

Blethen buyer seeks state money

By The Mainebiz News Staff

The lead investor in a group trying to buy Blethen Maine Newspapers has asked a state agency to help finance the deal.

Richard Connor, the architect of Maine Media Investments' bid to purchase the company from the Seattle Times Co., on Thursday approached the Maine Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees about investing in the purchase, The Ellsworth American reported. The trustees recently allocated 5% of the $7.6 billion fund for private equity investments.

Joined by Peter Brodsky of HM Capital Partners, the Texas firm backing the deal, Connor assured the board they would profit from the deal. A longtime newspaperman and president of Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. in Pennsylvania, Connor said he has bank financing lined up, but it is contingent on obtaining $10 million in private equity. Brodsky said the purchase price is a fraction of the $230 million the Blethens paid a decade ago, and that the company's real estate holdings are worth close to all of the total transaction value, the paper reported. The board directed the system's investment staff and consultants to evaluate the merits of the deal.

Blethen's holdings include the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville.

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