The Daily Herald is printed at the Chicago Tribune printing plant, Feb. 10, 2026, in Schaumburg. | Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune
By Robert Channick | Chicago Tribune
It took several full-page ads, an 11th-hour bid and ostensibly a premium price, but Tribune Publishing has swooped in and struck a deal to buy the employee-owned Daily Herald suburban newspaper.
The board of Paddock Publications, which operates the Daily Herald, sent an email to employees Thursday afternoon announcing that an asset purchase agreement has been signed, with a scheduled June 22 closing date.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the board said it would send out an information packet to Daily Herald employees in the next few days detailing the offer. The employee stockholders of the 150-year-old, formerly family-owned newspaper will then vote on whether to approve the offer, according to the Paddock email, which was obtained by the Tribune.
“This has been a long and arduous road, beginning more than a year ago with an unsolicited offer from Shaw Media to purchase the Daily Herald,” the Paddock board said in the email. “While a special committee of Paddock’s Board of Directors and the board itself were reviewing the offer, the Chicago Tribune announced that it would also make a bid.”
Doug Ray, chairman, publisher and CEO of Paddock Publications, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, while Par Ridder, general manager of Chicago Tribune Media Group, declined to comment.
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