SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco today denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block The McClatchy Company's proposed sale of the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times to MediaNews Group, Inc. (MediaNews) and the Monterey (CA) Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press to The Hearst Corporation (Hearst). The TRO had been requested by the plaintiff to delay the closure of the sale in connection with a lawsuit filed against MediaNews, Hearst, Stephens Group Inc., Gannett Co. Inc. and California Newspapers Partnership.
On April 26, 2006, McClatchy announced a definitive agreement with MediaNews and Hearst under which the companies will pay McClatchy $1.0 billion to acquire the four newspapers. On June 13, 2006, as announced previously, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) notified McClatchy of a request for additional information concerning the sale of the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times in California to MediaNews. McClatchy has responded promptly to the DOJ's request for additional information and is continuing to actively assist the DOJ with its inquiry.
About McClatchy
The McClatchy Company is the second-largest newspaper company in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers and approximately 50 non-dailies. McClatchy-owned newspapers include the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, the Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star- Telegram, the Kansas City Star, the Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer. In addition, McClatchy has a robust network of valuable internet assets, including leading local websites in each of its daily newspaper markets, offering readers information, comprehensive news, advertising, e-commerce and other services. The company also owns and operates McClatchy Interactive, an interactive operation that provides websites with content, publishing tools and software development; Real Cities (http://www.realcities.com/ ), the largest national network of city and regional web sites, operating in more than 110 U.S. markets, and is part owner of CareerBuilder, the nation's largest online classified employment listing service. McClatchy also owns 25 percent of Classified Ventures, a newspaper industry partnership that includes such online classified web sites as cars.com and apartments.com.
SAFE HARBOR FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements in this press release regarding the transactions between McClatchy, MediaNews and Hearst, the expected timetable for completing the transactions, future financial and operating results, benefits and synergies of the transactions, future opportunities for the company and any other statements about management's future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," estimates and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: the ability to consummate the remaining transactions, the ability of McClatchy to successfully integrate Knight Ridder's operations and employees; the ability to realize anticipated synergies and cost savings; and the other factors described in McClatchy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 25, 2005 and the final Prospectus/Proxy Statement/Information Statement contained in McClatchy's Registration Statement on Form S-4 (Registration No. 333-133321). McClatchy disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document.
