Hoffman Media Takes Control of Lee Enterprises to Further Mission
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Editor & Publisher reports “Hoffmann Media seizes control at Lee Enterprises:”
Lee Enterprises [link added] has entered a new era of financial and board leadership following a $50 million equity investment led by Hoffmann Media — a move that restructures governance, slashes borrowing costs, and signals aggressive plans for transformation.
David Hoffmann, principal of Hoffmann Media Group, is now chair of Lee’s board and is personally contributing about $35 million of the funding. According to the official press release, Hoffmann has fully backstopped the offering, guaranteeing the full $50 million raise regardless of other investor participation.
This follows Lee Enterprises rebuffing Alden Global’s attempt to buy the media group a few years ago.
Josh Funk of the Associated Press story tells us of the ambition of billionaire David Hoffman:
Lee Enterprises announced a compromise Tuesday with billionaire investor David Hoffmann, who offered to take over the nation’s third-largest newspaper chain last year, to help stabilize the company’s finances with a $50 million investment and set Lee up for the future.
Hoffmann, whose family investment firm already owns more than 40 other publications, will become Lee’s chairman as he continues to pursue his goal of becoming the country’s largest newspaper publisher. He has said in recent interviews that he believes newspapers can continue to play an important role in covering local communities and build a successful digital subscription business.
Hoffman Media recently purchased the locally owned Aspen Daily News. Halle Zander reports:
The Aspen Daily News announced Monday night that Hoffmann Media Group, the media branch of a Florida-based private equity firm, has acquired Aspen’s newspaper of record.
Hoffmann Family of Companies, led by billionaire chairman and founder David Hoffmann, started purchasing a growing portfolio of local news outlets across the U.S. in 2022.
While some research indicates that newspapers owned by billionaires may produce more high-quality journalism than their competitors, critics worry about the consolidation of print media and the risk of editorial overreach.
[In 2024] the New York Times reported that David Hoffmann has been investing in local newspapers while the industry is struggling, saying he believes in the value of local newspapers and the potential for them to succeed alongside digital media.
As far as comics go the Hoffman Group editors are free to choose what makes up their comics pages (those that run comics anyway), while all Lee papers run a consolidated comics page handed down from HQ.
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