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Lee Rejects Takeover Offer

WVIK, Quad Cities NPR | By Herb Trix
Published December 10, 2021 at 2:20 PM CST

Two weeks after a New York based hedge fund offered to buy it, Lee Enterprises has said "no thanks." Thursday the board of directors of the Quad Cities based media company unanimously rejected the offer from Alden Global Capital.

Alden has offered 24 dollars per share in cash.

In a press release, Lee says 24 dollars "grossly undervalues" the company and is not in its best interest or the best interests of its stockholders. As of late Thursday morning, shares were trading at 28 dollars.

Also Thursday Lee reported 4th quarter and year-end results. Without the benefit of last year's acquisition of Berkshire Hathaway Media Group and The Buffalo News, operating revenue for the year fell three per cent. Subscription revenue rose one per cent, but advertising revenue dropped six per cent.

Total digital revenue, however, rose 34 per cent.

Lee Enterprises publishes daily newspapers, digital products, and weekly and specialty publications serving 77 markets in 26 states. Its major markets include St. Louis, Buffalo, Omaha, Lincoln, Madison, and the Quad Cities.
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Herb Trix
A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois. While a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield (then known as Sangamon State University), he got his first taste of public radio, covering Illinois state government for WUIS. Here in the Quad Cities, Herb worked for WHBF Radio before coming to WVIK in 1987. Herb also produces the weekly public affairs feature Midwest Week – covering the news behind the news by interviewing reporters about the stories they cover.
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