Tribune Publishing offers buyouts

Tribune Publishing is offering voluntary buyouts to all staff employed for eight or more years, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The move is aimed at avoiding “turning to company-wide reductions of the workforce as a last resort,” Tribune Publishing CEO Tim Knight said in an email to employees.

New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital became the biggest shareholder in Tribune Publishing in November. Tribune Publishing then added two Alden representatives to the newspaper company’s board, making it eight members. Alden is barred from boosting its stake in the company to more than 33 percent until the end of June.

Tribune Publishing had some 4,100 full-time employees at the end of last year, according to the company.

Tribune Publishing owns the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel, New York Daily News and other papers.

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