MediaBuyerPlanner: Millionaire real estate investor Clinton Reilly plans to file an antitrust lawsuit today in the hopes of blocking McClatchy's planned sale of the San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times and Monterey Herald, writes the AP. The lawsuit names MediaNews Group, the Hearst Corp, Gannett Corp. and Stephens Media Group as defendants. McClatchy, which acquired the three papers along with the rest of Knight Ridder's papers when it purchased the company in March, reached an agreement to sell the papers to MediaNews - with backing from Hearst and the other publishers - in late April.

According to Reilly's lawyer, the resulting partnership would create a monopoly that would drive up newspaper prices, hurt advertisers and reduce jobs in the industry, the article says. The U.S. Justice Department and California's attorney general are already looking into the partnership.

In 2000, Reilly turned the sale of the San Francisco Chronicle into a six-year legal battle to block Hearst from acquiring the paper; a judge ultimately rejected Reilly's claims.

The deal, if it goes through, would make MediaNews the fourth-largest newspaper company in the country in terms of circulation.

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