ink-stained wretches

Fred Drasner Leading Remaining Newsweek Bidders

Today is your last day to bid on a faltering (but legendary!) newsmagazine. Final bids are due to Allen & Co. today for the chance to buy Newsweek from the Washington Post Company, and the competition is reportedly getting slimmer. According to the Times and the Post, rumored bidder (and part Times owner) Philip Falcone decided against bidding on Monday, and hedge-funder Thane Ritchie either dropped out or was rejected, depending on who you ask. Also rejected was conservative publication conglomerate Newsmax. In the latter two cases, the Washington Post Company indicated that the ideological bents of the potential buyers would have been problematic for the theoretically unbiased magazine.

That leaves former Daily News owner Fred Drasner, who teamed up with Paul Ingrassia (formerly of Dow Jones Newswires) and Alan Weber (co-founder of Fast Company) for a bid. Sidney Harmon, the stereo magnate, is also still in on the game, but according to Keith Kelly, Drasner’s team has the inside track. There could very well be plenty of bidders we don’t know about, of course, but as soon as next week we could know officially that at least someone wanted to go through with a purchase — not something that felt like a guarantee when the magazine was put on the block nearly two months ago.

2 Suitors for Newsweek Are Said to Be Ruled Out [NYT]
Drasner on inside Newsweek track [NYP]

Fred Drasner Leading Remaining Newsweek Bidders