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A news media company with a history of taking over struggling newspapers and then cutting jobs has offered to buy the Reading Eagle out of bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported. The Reading Eagle Co. said Thursday that it received two bids to buy its assets, but only one of the bids, from MediaNews Group, was qualified. Reading Eagle President and CEO Peter Barbey said in a statement to employees that the MediaNews bid has “neither been accepted nor rejected.” He says that the company is working with MediaNews, better known as Digital First Media, to “resolve certain outstanding issues.” Digital First, which is controlled by a New York hedge fund and owns about 200 papers and other publications, is known for deep cost-cutting. The family-owned Reading Eagle began publishing in 1868. The company’s other properties include news-talk radio station WEEU and a weekly newspaper. The company has more than 200 employees.

Bids have been received for the purchase of Reading Eagle Company, the Reading Eagle reported. The family-owned company filed for chapter 11 protection, saying that its financial situation had become untenable. It has continued to operate while a search was undertaken for a buyer. According to the company's plan for sale, which was approved by a federal bankruptcy judge last month, a minimum bid amount was set at $5 million and bidders needed to submit a deposit of 10 percent of their bid. The sale plan also called for potential bidders to provide various documents and verifications — including tax returns, current financial statements or bank account statements — proving they have the financial capacity to make the transaction. Potential buyers also had to sign confidentiality agreements to receive information about the company.

Mexican food maker Papa Grande Gourmet Foods has listed its San Antonio plant for sale as its navigates through a bankruptcy reorganization, the San Antonio Express-News reported. “We’re not selling to go out of business,” emphasized Ron Smeberg, Papa Grande’s bankruptcy lawyer. “We have no plans to stop operating at all.” The 32,000-square-foot plant and nearly 8-acre site at 1802 Jackson Keller has an asking price of $6 million. Papa Grande, which makes barbacoa, tamales, fajitas, chorizo and other products sold at H-E-B, Walmart and elsewhere under the brand name Andy Garcia Foods, is weighing various options for the property. They include selling it and then leasing it back, adding a purchase option to a sale-leaseback agreement or executing an outright sale. An outright sale is the least likely option, Smeberg said. But if a buyer wanted the property for its own use, Papa Grande could move its operations to another location.

Advertising technology service Sizmek Inc. is seeking bankruptcy-court approval to sell its digital-ad marketplace to Zeta Global Holdings Corp. for up to $36 million, the first such asset sale since Sizmek filed for chapter 11, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Sizmek said that it needs to sell its demand-side platform and its data-management platform “on an urgent, expedited basis” to avoid the collapse of their value as going concerns, according to papers filed Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Zeta is offering an estimated $33 million to $36 million, made up of $10 million in cash, $5 million in preferred stock and a share of whatever is collected on certain accounts receivable. The company is proposing a private sale with no competitive bidding, saying that expediting the transaction would deliver more value than a lengthier court-supervised auction.

The company that owns the National Enquirer said that it has agreed to sell the scandal-plagued supermarket tabloid to a former newsstand mogul, the Wall Street Journal reported. James Cohen, whose family built Hudson News, best known for operating airport and rail station newsstands, will acquire the gossip weekly and its sister tabloids, the Globe and National Examiner, from American Media LLC, the company said. Cohen has agreed to pay $100 million for the publications. American Media announced last week that it was putting the Enquirer and its sister tabloids — the Globe and National Examiner — up for sale and expected a deal in the “near future.” The heavily indebted company has been in the spotlight since it admitted making a hush-money payment on behalf of President Trump to women who alleged affairs with him. Last year, the publisher reached a nonprosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, admitting it paid $150,000 in 2016 to a former Playboy model to suppress her story of an affair with Trump a decade earlier, using a tactic known as “catch and kill.” Trump has denied the affairs.

The startup that acquired Harvey Weinstein’s film and TV catalog has a new backer: Warner Bros., Bloomberg News reported. The studio giant is investing in Spyglass Media Group, a venture created by entertainment veteran Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment, which bought the Weinstein Co. assets out of bankruptcy last year. Warner Bros., owned by AT&T Inc., will have an undisclosed equity stake in Spyglass, as well as a “first-look” arrangement that lets it take first crack at projects. Warner Bros. joins Italian independent distributor Eagle Pictures and Cineworld Group Plc, the second-largest theater chain in the world, in supporting the venture. Spyglass obtained the rights to former Weinstein properties such as “The King’s Speech” and “Inglourious Basterds.” The business will make new films and TV shows, some of which were put on hold because of the Weinstein bankruptcy — a move brought on by sexual-assault claims against the eponymous producer. The company also will distribute a 250-title library that includes Oscar winners such as “The Artist” and television shows like “Project Runway.” Weinstein Co. was sold to Lantern last year in a bankruptcy sale worth about $437 million, including debt. The arrangement means Harvey Weinstein himself won’t profit from the new venture.

Monarch Alternative Capital LP, which recently bought 79 stores occupied by liquidating general merchandise retailer ShopKo, is now the leading candidate to buy the company’s optical chain at an auction that started yesterday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Green Bay, Wis.-based ShopKo said over the weekend that the auction at the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP begins with a proposed $8.5 million cash bid by Monarch, a $4.8 billion asset-investment firm mostly focused on buying the debt of distressed and bankrupt companies. ShopKo said that the sale of its optical business — its last major retail asset — to its main landlord could save as many as 700 jobs at about 80 locations. The company entered bankruptcy with about 14,000 employees. ShopKo said on Saturday that it is “excited to partner with Monarch to continue to serve” its optical customers. The auction process and final agreement is subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Omaha, Neb. Read more. 

Occupancy issues are at the heart of many significant retail cases, as detailed in the ABI publication Retail and Office Bankruptcy: Landlord/Tenant Rights, available at the ABI Store.