Chatham Asset Management

As existing bondholders of American Media, Inc. (AMI), Chatham and Omega Charitable Partnership agreed to acquire all of AMI’s outstanding common stock and to buy a further $12.5 million of second-lien PIK notes; AMI’s titles included the National Enquirer, Star, OK! and Shape.⁠[1]

The SEC later found that Chatham acquired 78% of the equity of AMI’s parent for certain of its funds in 2014, through which Chatham and Melchiorre effectively controlled AMI.⁠[2]

In the recapitalization of Canada’s Postmedia, funds advised by Chatham were expected to hold about 64.7% of the outstanding shares after the transaction.⁠[3]

McClatchy entered an amended term-loan framework agreement with Chatham under which Chatham-managed funds would provide a Tranche A facility of about $157.1 million and a Tranche B facility of about $193.5 million, used partly to repurchase 2027 and 2029 debentures held by Chatham entities; Chatham filed a 13D supporting the refinancing.⁠[4]

McClatchy announced that its court-supervised auction had concluded with Chatham deemed the successful bidder; under the proposed deal McClatchy would leave Chapter 11 as one company serving 30 communities, and its qualified pension plan was expected to be assumed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.⁠[5]

By then Chatham had invested in McClatchy for more than a decade and was its largest creditor.⁠[6]

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved the sale: Chatham acquired McClatchy’s assets for $263 million in debt and $50 million in cash and provided a new $87 million loan; a McClatchy lawyer said the bid was $100 million above the next-closest offer from Alden Global CapitalAlden Global CapitalAlden Global Capital is a New York-based hedge fund founded in 2007 that, through MediaNews Group (Digital First Media) and Tribune Publishing, acquired in 2021, became the second-largest newspaper owner in the United States, with titles including The Denver Post and the Chicago Tribune. Its deep newsroom cuts have drawn criticism from journalists and unions, while the company has said it is committed to local journalism.Open the full entry. The agreement required Chatham to assume all of McClatchy’s collective bargaining agreements.⁠[7]

In early November 2021 affiliates of Atlas Holdings had agreed to buy R.R. Donnelley (RRD) for $8.52 a share in cash; Chatham then offered $9.10, and after several rounds of bidding a deal with Chatham affiliates, at an enterprise value of more than $2 billion, was announced on December 14.⁠[8]

Chatham affiliates completed the acquisition of RRD for $10.85 per share in cash; RRD stockholders had approved it on February 23, and its stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange before the market opened on February 28.⁠[9]

The SEC found that from 2016 through 2018 Chatham and Melchiorre had AMI bonds traded between clients they advised at prices they proposed, raising the bonds’ prices and the funds’ net asset values and fees. Without admitting or denying the findings, they agreed to pay more than $19.3 million combined and to accept industry bars.⁠[10]

The SEC order describes Chatham as a Delaware limited liability company based in Chatham, New Jersey, registered with the Commission as an investment adviser since 2012 and managing about $8.6 billion on a discretionary basis; Melchiorre is its founder and principal owner.⁠[2]

Chatham-owned McClatchy carried out its most severe layoffs in years, affecting more than 90 staff by union estimates at at least 13 papers in eight states; the previous year it had closed its Washington, D.C., bureau, and in summer 2026 it sold two Georgia papers to the National Trust for Local News.⁠[11]

Postmedia: Official website: https://www.postmedia.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[12]