OC Register sold to private investment group

The group is led by investor Aaron Kushner, who had tried to purchase the Boston Globe. No purchase price was announced by Register parent Freedom Communications. Also being sold to Kushner's group, 2100 Trust LLC, are the six remaining Freedom dailies and related properties. Deal is expected to close in about 30 days. From the Register:

For Freedom, the deal caps a two-year effort to sell off the company's properties after exiting bankruptcy in April 2010. At that time, a group of investors and banks took over the company from the founding Hoiles family, which had owned the Register for 75 years. The breakup of Freedom began last November when Freedom announced the sale of its eight television stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $385 million. That sale was followed by the announcement in May and early June of three separate deals for Freedom's Midwest, Texas and Florida/North Carolina newspapers. Earlier in the year, Freedom sold two smaller papers - The Tribune in Seymour, Ind. and the News Journal in Clovis, N.M. Terms of the newspaper deals were not disclosed.

From press release:

"We couldn't be more pleased with the opportunity to lead the hard-working and talented employees of Freedom Communications in serving these communities. We believe that newspapers are essential to the fabric of our lives and are excited to own and grow these unique institutions," said Aaron Kushner, 2100 Trust's Chief Executive Officer.

Some backstory by the Register on 2100 Trust:

Kushner founded 2100 Trust in 2009 after he left his position as chief executive of Massachusetts-based Marian Heath Greeting Cards. Kushner, who once owned an online company to help people with moving, then organized a group of former media executives and investors to bid on the Globe. Last year, the firm reportedly planned to offer more than $200 million to buy the Globe and its related properties. Among the advisers helping Kushner were Ben Bradlee Jr., a former Globe executive, and Benjamin and Stephen Taylor, whose family previously owned the paper. The firm's plan, however, was short-circuited by the Globe's owner, The New York Times Co., whose then chief executive, Janet Robinson, said the paper was not for sale.

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