I worked for Knight Ridder for 18 years and I know the Detroit Free Press was part of the company's pride back in the old days. Now it seems, viewed from the outside, that these papers are like cards in a deck you shuffle them, you deal them, you fold them, and the meaning of them as an institution in the community seems to have been lost.
Quotes about ridder (13 Quotes)
Knight Ridder Newspapers Helen Keller believed in having a courageous dignity in the presence of fate. ... discover the truth of today, and perhaps find the greatness of tomorrow.
I would not be surprised if a private equity group ended up buying Knight Ridder, and then took their time and sold off the assets to strategic buyers.
Tony Ridder inherited a company that had a lot of newspaper companies that are not in growing markets and would never be in growing markets. That's what he inherited, and that's what he had to work with.
It was a perfect target Tony Ridder has known this for years and that's why he was pounding for the need to improve profitability. His worst nightmare came true.
Finding the right home for these papers has been a high priority for us since the announcement that we would be selling 12 of the Knight Ridder newspapers. This transaction highlights our ability to deliver quickly on our divestiture plan, and we are delighted with the sales price.
An early victim would be the Philadelphia Daily News, no matter who acquires the company. It's much more profitable to publish one newspaper than two in the same market. It's a kind of miracle Knight Ridder kept it going this long.
The 11.5 times multiple -- which is two full turns higher than the 9.5 times multiple we paid for the whole of Knight Ridder -- demonstrates that these are strong newspapers with great value to companies whose strategies fit them.
The bottom line on Knight Ridder papers is that in order to make these deals work, someone has to get extremely aggressive with costs. There's no question that this means that any buyer has to go in with a very, very sharp knife and trim the fat and maybe into the muscles to get this to work.
This is a difficult time in so many ways, but in no way greater than having to disrupt the lives and trust of Knight Ridder people with whom we have worked so closely. But I do feel we have no choice.
I think it is a wait-and-see situation. I certainly enjoyed the atmosphere at Ridder. It was perfect for girls' hockey. We will have to just wait and make judgments after we see how it goes.
That's what we've been working on since Dec. 22, and clearly we're very much in the game at this point. Once Knight Ridder said they weren't going to sell the newspapers piecemeal, we were in a holding pattern waiting until someone bought the whole thing.
Standing still is not an option. Each of the eight properties our advisory team has identified is profitable. We think there are solid business opportunities out there. We are going to go after those properties and we are going to attempt to persuade others in labor, management and the investment community to join us. We have formally requested that Knight Ridder open the process to include our bid.