A local group has offered $12 million for the Press Democrat and other SMI assets. [Shutterstock]
With the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reportedly for sale, a group of nine Sonoma County residents has made an offer to purchase Sonoma Media Investments, the parent company of the daily newspaper and its affiliated community publications.
The move comes as SMI is in talks for its purchase by the New York-based Hearst Corp., which owns the San Francisco Chronicle, a source at SMI confirmed with NorthBay biz last week.
The Sonoma County group includes Lawrence Amaturo—publisher of NorthBay biz and owner of Amaturo Sonoma Media Group—as well as Ajaib Bhadare, Richard Coombs, Cindy Gallaher, Bill Gallaher, John Holdredge, Dennis Hunter, Louis Ratto and Komron Shahhosseini.
In a media statement, the local group says it has offered $12 million for SMI, adding it believes the amount exceeds Hearst’s offer by 50%. The group says it wants to “preserve and enhance local journalism by keeping these publications community-owned and operated.”
In the release, Cindy Gallaher, representing the buyer group, spoke to the “crucial role” local news plays in informing and uniting the North Bay community.
“Our goal is to safeguard these publications, ensuring they continue to provide accurate, in-depth, objective and trusted high-quality reporting,” Gallaher said. “As SMI looks to transition ownership of this 125-year-old institution, we implore them to choose local ownership over a distant corporate entity.”
The group’s offer specifically pledges to honor the current collective bargaining agreement between SMI and the daily newspaper’s union, the Press Democrat Guild, which last week called for assurances the agreement would be upheld in the event of a sale.
In addition to the Press Democrat, SMI’s assets include the Sonoma Index-Tribune, the Petaluma Argus-Courier, North Bay Business Journal, Sonoma magazine, La Prensa Sonoma and the West County Gazette. SMI currently has about 150 employees.
Darius Anderson is SMI’s managing partner. Anderson, a Sonoma-based developer and lobbyist, acquired the Index-Tribune and Sonoma magazine in 2012, then later that year partnered with a group of local investors to purchase the Press Democrat and its affiliated publications from Florida-based Halifax Media Group. SMI’s investors include former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill, former Dolby Sound CEO Bill Jasper, former Congressman Doug Bosco, retired Intel executive Les Vadasz, and Jean Schulz, wife of the late “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz.
The local buyer group concluded by expressing hope that its higher offer and commitment to preserving local jobs and journalism will be enough to sway SMI to consider their offer.
“We believe our offer represents the most meaningful legacy SMI’s current owners can leave behind,” Gallaher said.
A request for comment from Anderson was not immediately returned.
