New York Daily News owner matches Murdoch's $580 offer for Newsday

Mumbai: Mortimer Zuckerman, owner of the New York Daily News, has made a $580 million bid for Tribune Co's Newsday daily newspaper, matching a bid by News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch and Chicago real-estate magnate Sam Zell, who bought a controlling stake in Tribune in December, had struck a deal that values Newsday at $580 million, the Wall Street Journal reported early last week.

Under the deal, Long Island, New York-based Newsday would be part of a joint venture with the New York Post and various non-newspaper assets owned by News Corp. Tribune would retain a stake of less than 5 per cent in the combined entity.

If the deal goes through, Murdoch will own three of the 10 largest circulation newspapers in the US.

Murdoch's New York Post daily tabloid newspaper is the chief rival to Zuckerman's Daily News.

Murdoch is also facing opposition from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as he seeks to take control of two TV stations and three newspapers in New York - including Newsday.

News Corp, however, maintains that its deal would face limited regulatory risk, except perhaps for a Justice Department scrutiny regarding whether combining Newsday and The Post would be anticompetitive.

Reports, meanwhile, said lawmakers and public-interest groups are preparing to fight News Corp. on the grounds that News Corp. would end up with too much media power.