The Maine Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees has turned down a proposal from Maine Media Investments to invest as much as $5 million in the acquisition of Blethen Maine Newspapers, Andrew Sawyer, chief investment officer at the retirement system, told Mainebiz this afternoon.
Last week, Richard Connor, the architect behind the investment group’s bid to purchase the newspaper company, and Peter Brodsky of HM Capital Partners, the Texas private equity firm financing the deal, pitched the plan to the retirement system’s board of trustees. The board, however, soon decided to turn down the plan because Connor was unwilling to provide more detailed financial information about the proposed acquisition, including the sale price, Saywer said. The board recently allocated 5% of the retirement system’s $7.6 billion fund for private equity investments.
Dennis Bailey, a spokesman for Maine Media Investments, said he learned of the board of trustee’s decision via press calls. He said the board’s decision is unfortunate, but that its decision does not sink the Blethen deal. “We have other options,” Bailey told Mainebiz. “Rich felt Maine people should invest in Maine businesses. We’ll just keep moving.”
A longtime newspaperman and president of Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. in Pennsylvania, Connor said he has bank financing lined up for the Blethen deal, but it is contingent on obtaining $10 million in private equity.
Blethen’s holdings include the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville.