By Adam Kramer
A little more than a year after News Communications Inc., owner of the Queens Tribune and the Press of Southeast Queens, began selling off some of its weekly papers, it has sold an interest in the company to media baron Conrad Black’s Hollinger International.
Hollinger acquired a stake in News Communications from James Finkelstein, News Communications’ president and chief executive officer. The new partnership, Hollinger-Finkelstein, announced June 27 that it owns approximately 29 percent of the stock in the company.
“We are delighted to have made this investment,” said Matthew Doull, a partner at Hollinger Capital. “In a short period of time and a difficult environment for publishing, Jimmy Finkelstein has done a commendable job in turning News Communications around.
“We are particularly looking forward to our presence in Washington through The Hill, an important and influential publication in the U.S. political world.”
In addition to The Hill, News Communications owns the Queens Tribune; The Press of Southeast Queens; the Montauk Pioneer; and Dan’s Paper, which chronicles the nightlife of the famous and trendy in the Hamptons.
Black’s media empire stretches from the United States to the Britain and Israel. The papers in his group include The Daily Telegraph in Great Britain; The Chicago Sun Times; the Jerusalem Post in Israel; an interest in the New York Sun; and a number of weekly papers around Chicago.
In August 2001, News Communications sold its four Manhattan weeklies — the Westsider, Our Town, West Side Spirit and the Chelsea Clinton News — to a group headed by Thomas Allon for an undisclosed price.
The company also sold its eight Long Island weekly newspapers — which had been consolidated from 12 papers published under The Record banner — to Herald Community Newspapers of Lawrence for an undisclosed price in May 2001. News Communications reported it received $275,000 in cash from the sale.
In 2000, the company sold its weekly newspapers in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
On May 15, 2001, the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel removed News Communications from its SmallCap Market because the company did not meet the criteria to remain listed.
If a stock trades below $1 a share for 30 days, it is in danger of being delisted.
News Communications was formed in 1986 when Finkelstein’s father started snapping up weekly papers in the city. He bought the Queens Tribune from U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) in 1989.
“Hollinger’s interest in our company is a tribute to the progress we have made and the potential for further growth of our publications,” Finkelstein said. “Hollinger is one of the world’s greatest publishing companies and their association will be of great value to us.”
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
