Austin investor submits bid for Honolulu newspaper

An Austin investor who is described by one magazine as a “whiz kid” is among the bidders for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii’s second largest daily newspaper.

Brian Ferguson submitted a plan April 5 to buy the Star-Bulletin and its sister publication MidWeek, which is the state’s largest weekly newspaper, sources familiar with the sales process told the Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaii’s largest daily newspaper.

Ferguson, 30, is counsel for Anthem Holdings LLC, which owns about 6 percent of Dallas-based A.H. Belo Co. Belo owns The Dallas Morning News and other newspapers as well as KVUE, Austin’s ABC affiliate, and other TV stations. He received a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and law degree from the University of Texas.

Last year, Ferguson told D Magazine: “If you told me I would be paid $50,000 a year, plus some ramen noodles, and I had to sleep on a cot in the pressroom in exchange for being the publisher of a decent paper, I’d do it in a heartbeat.” The Dallas magazine dubbed him a “whiz kid.”

Dennis Francis, publisher of the Star-Bulletin and president of its owner, Oahu Publications, called Ferguson’s bid “nonstandard” because it included MidWeek, which isn’t up for sale. “It will be up to the Justice Department and the attorney general to consider its worthiness,” Francis told the Star-Bulletin.

Ferguson was part of a group that tried to buy the Austin American-Statesman. But the owner, Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises Inc., said the offers were too low and took the American-Statesman off the market last August.

The Austin investor led an effort to purchase the Rocky Mountain News in Denver before owner E.W. Scripps Co. decided to close the 150-year-old newspaper last year.

April 5 was the deadline to submit nonbinding bids to buy the Star-Bulletin, which is being sold by Oahu Publications Inc. to make way for the company’s purchase of the Honolulu Advertiser.

In addition to Ferguson, state Sen. Sam Slom, president of Smart Business Hawaii, and Internet publisher Malia Zimmerman submitted a joint bid for the Star-Bulletin, its Web site, the newspaper’s circulation list and its intellectual property, according to the Honolulu Advertiser.

John Walker, chief financial officer of Oahu Publications, declined to tell the Honolulu Advertiser how many bids were received for the Star-Bulletin. The Star-Bulletin reported that at least three bids have been received.