Just in…

Creative Loafing reports that the hedge fund, Atalaya Capital Management, won this morning’s auction with a $5 million bid for control of Creative Loafing.  The outgoing CEO Ben Eason losing bid for the company his parents started in 1972 was only $2.3 million.

Things now suddenly look a bit brighter for the battered alt-weekly…

Atalaya told the court that it didn’t intend to close any of the papers; the plan is to reinvest in them. Atalaya has indicated that Creative Loafing’s new board will be manned by some impressive names in national journalism, including ex-L.A. Times editor Jim O’Shea. O’Shea was fired from the Times after he resisted the publisher’s demands to cut the editorial staff. By bringing him on, Atalaya could be adding substance to its promise to reinvest in CLI’s six papers, which compose the nation’s second-largest altweekly chain.

I can’t wait for all the glowing pieces on hedge funds!    Just kidding.  I’m very glad to hear the good people at CL are getting a “fresh start“!