Philadelphia's two largest newspapers were sold in a closed-door auction on Tuesday, after months of infighting between the papers' co-owners, the Associated Press reported.
Businessman Lewis Katz and philanthropist H.G. "Gerry" Lenfest are taking over the newspapers with an $88 million auction bid.
With both the newspapers being sold for the fifth time on eight years, the latest sale of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News comes less than two years after wealthy city powerbrokers bought the struggling newspapers at the urging of former Gov. Ed Rendell.
The package, which will also include Philly.com, settles philosophical disputes at Interstate General Media about the direction of the publications.
After the $55 million purchase was bought by Businessmen George Norcross and Lewis Katz, struggle over newsroom leadership and coverage strategies soon locked them into a power battle.
"Norcross is one of the most powerful figures in Philadelphia's southern New Jersey suburbs, with interests in media, health care, education, banking, insurance and politics," the AP reported. "He would steer coverage toward more local news and sports, according to his testimony at recent court hearings over the partnership dissolution."
"Katz made his fortune investing in the Kinney Parking empire and the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network in New York. He supports the investigative reporting favored by current Inquirer editor Bill Marimow."
Last fall, the bitter feud became public when Marimow was fired.
"These are accomplished businessmen," Krishna Singh, a former IGM partner whom Norcross bought out in late 2013, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"If I thought they weren't willing to work together, I wouldn't have voted for them to be managing partners. Philadelphia needs a high-quality newspaper. I was hoping I would be in the passenger seat. Unfortunately, things did not unfold that way. Hopefully, there will be a single owner or two that are totally compatible and can do justice to running the paper."
Norcross holds a 52 percent stake in the company. Katz holds a 26 percent stake and his ally H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, a local philanthropist, a 16 percent stake.
