Union Group Meets Deadline To Buy Sun-Times

CHICAGO, IL — Former Chicago Alderman Edwin Eisendrath said Monday a group of labor unions and investors he is leading has secured the necessary financing to buy the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader, according to a report on Robert Feder's Chicago media blog. His investment group has put more than $11.2 million in escrow and met a deadline set by the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, others close to the transaction confirmed to the Sun-Times.

Last week, the chief negotiator of the Sun-Times' sale told Eisendrath and his group they had until 5 p.m. Monday to finalize their $15 million proposal. Eisendrath, who represented the 43rd Ward between 1987 and 1993 and is now a managing partner of an international consulting firm, formed the investment group in May after tronc, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, announced plans to buy Wrapports, which owns the Sun-Times.

If no other bidders had come forward, Justice Department approval for the merger would have been likely, tronc's CEO said in May. According to a statement at the time, Wrapports management initially approached tronc officials earlier this year, suggesting a sale would be "the best way to preserve multiple editorial voices in the greater Chicago area." (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

If Eisendrath's had fallen through, Wrapports promised to continue to try to work out a deal with tronc, the media company's original suitor whose purchase bid led to Eisendrath forming his group.

While it looks like they won't be merging, the Sun-Times and the Tribune are not going to become completely separate either. In 2014, tronc, known as Tribune Publishing at the time, purchased the SouthtownStar and Sun-Times Media’s remaining suburban newspapers. Plus, the Tribune's parent company has been distributing print editions of the the Sun-Times since 2007 and printing it since 2011.

The union-backed group, involving labor groups affiliated with the Chicago Federal of Labor, expects to finalize its agreement and close the deal as soon as possible, Eisendrath told Feder.

Sources told the Sun-Times verification of the group's financing was ongoing and did not expect the deal to close Monday.

Related:

• Tronc, Owner Of Chicago Tribune, To Buy Chicago Sun-Times
• Deadline For Bids To Buy Chicago Sun-Times Extended
• Ex-Alderman Leads Union Group Trying To Buy Chicago Sun-Times

Top photo: Former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath, who is leading an investment group to buy the Chicago Sun-Times. (Eisendrath photo by Brian Kersey | Associated Press; Chicago Sun-Times photo by G-Jun Yam | Associated Press)