Hedge fund Alden Global Capital announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Tribune Publishing, which owns several metropolitan daily newspapers including The Hartford Courant.
Alden had owned nearly 32% of the company, but is now slated to become the sole owner of the publications as part of a deal valued at $630 million.Â
The New York-based hedge fund, through its subsidiary MNG Enterprises (DBA) Digital First Media, already owns newspapers including The Boston Herald and The Denver Post. It is now poised to add  Tribune Publishing’s nine newspapers including the Courant, Chicago Tribune New York Daily News.
The deal didn’t come as a surprise, but it has stirred concern, and even opposition, from some Hartford Courant staff members and even state and local officials.
Alden has a history of cutting newsroom jobs and journalism quality.
One Tribune Publishing publication, The Baltimore Sun, will likely leave the chain amid the deal, as Alden signed a non-binding deal to sell it to Sunlight for All Institute, a public charity formed by Stewart Bainum Jr.Â
