The National Enquirer may soon have a new owner.
The tabloid’s parent company, American Media Inc., said it will “explore strategic options” for the National Enquirer and the National Examiner, adding that this “will likely result in their sale in the near future.”
AMI President and CEO David Pecker said that the company is focused on its teen and active lifestyle brands and other platforms.
“Because of this focus, we feel the future opportunities with the tabloids can be best exploited by a different ownership,” Pecker said in a statement.
Earlier, The Washington Post reported that efforts to sell came after the hedge fund manager who controls AMI through his fund “became ‘disgusted’ with the Enquirer’s reporting tactics.” The Enquirer has been accused of extortion and practicing “catch and kill” techniques.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos alleged the Enquirer attempted to blackmail and extort him. AMI said it did nothing illegal but would investigate the matter. Federal prosecutors are looking into the tabloid’s handling of a story regarding Bezos’ affair.
AMI has also been sued for allegedly paying former Playboy model Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about an affair with President Donald Trump, only to hide it from publication. McDougal has been released from her $150,000 contract with American Media.
AMI is controlled by Chatham Asset Management. The Post reported that fund manager Anthony Melchiorre pressured AMI to sell amid its financial struggles and his disapproval of the allegations against the Enquirer. Chatham declined to comment to the Post. Melchiorre didn’t respond to the Post’s request for comment.
The company previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010. Debtwire later reported that AMI sought $425 million from capital market investors. The media company previously sold Shape to Meredith for $79 million. The proceeds of that deal were expected to pay down AMI’s debt.