Advertiser Staff
At least three potential buyers of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin were told yesterday that their bids were deficient. Because of this, U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren yesterday extended the deadline to select a buyer from Friday to Sept. 29 so bidders could revise their offers.
Q: What started the sale process?
A: Last September, Liberty Newspapers, owner of the Star-Bulletin, announced that the paper would end more than a century of publication on Oct. 30, 1999, because of declining circulation, the state’s sagging economy and the owner’s desire to invest elsewhere.
As part of a deal with Honolulu Advertiser owner Gannett Pacific Corp., Gannett agreed to pay Liberty $26.5 million to end the joint operating agreement that allows combined business operations between competing newspapers. The JOA was to have expired in 2012.
But state Attorney General Earl Anzai and a group of community activists filed lawsuits in federal court alleging that the plan to close the paper violated federal and state antitrust laws. A federal judge issued an injunction Oct. 13 to halt the scheduled closing and the ruling was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In April, attorneys for the newspapers, the state and other parties agreed on terms for putting the Star-Bulletin up for sale.
Q: Who’s bidding for the Star-Bulletin?
A: There are at least three known bidders for the afternoon paper. They are:
Steve Hadland, owner of Hadland Communications, who publishes five weekly newspapers in the west Los Angeles area.
Canadian publisher David Black of Black Press Ltd. The British Columbia-based company owns about 80 newspapers in Western Canada and Washington state.
A hui made up of Kaua‘i publisher Peter McClaran and former Hawai‘i congressman and radio executive Cec Heftel.
Q: What happens if no buyer is found?
A: The court case would resume with the pretrial hearings and trial pushed back for the same period of time it took to look for a new owner, according to the April agreement. The original trial date was Sept. 15. The federal injunction ordering Gannett and Liberty to abide by their joint operating agreement and continue publishing the Star-Bulletin would remain in effect.
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