In a surprise move, a Santa Barbara group won Tuesday’s bankruptcy auction for the News-Press’ online assets by outbidding the proposed international buyer.
Ben Romo, representing the week-old NP 2024 LLC, bid $285,000 for the former newspaper’s website, trademark and social media accounts.
That was higher than the other bidders — Clancy Woods and Malta-based Weyaweya Ltd. — were willing to go.
Romo, of Romo & Associates consulting firm, wouldn’t say who was behind the group or the money.
“Our motivation first and foremost is to preserve historical resources for community benefit,” he said. “We’re local kids who grew up reading the newspaper, the News-Press.”
His group is also interested in purchasing the physical archives. Without control of the trademark, which was included in Tuesday’s sale, use of the physical archives could have been difficult, he said.
Wendy McCaw, owner of Santa Barbara News-Press parent company Ampersand Publishing, declared bankruptcy in July 2023.
The bankruptcy trustee wants to sell some of its assets to pay creditors who are owed millions of dollars, including former employees.
Michael D’Alba, the bankruptcy trustee’s attorney, presided over Tuesday’s court hearing and auction for the online assets.
The proposed sale was to Weyaweya for $250,000, and two overbidders showed up to the hearing, prompting the auction.
After Romo won, D’Alba offered Weyaweya the chance to be the backup bidder, and its chief executive officer, Max Noremo, declined. Woods left the courtroom without taking back his $75,000 deposit check for the overbidding procedure.
Bankruptcy Court Judge Ronald Clifford did not approve D’Alba’s plan to pay two former News-Press employees for passwords to the online accounts he’s selling.
It seems like Yolanda Apodaca, the longtime manager, and Philip Kiner, who maintained the website, are “holding assets of the estate hostage in order to be treated better” than other employees who are owed money, Clifford said.
The issue gave him “heartburn,” he said.
D’Alba said any potential buyer needs the content: “Without them the sale collapses.”
Kiner would have received $4,500, and Apodaca would have received $9,500.
D’Alba said Kiner deleted the website hosting account, which was in his name, when McCaw filed for bankruptcy. He copied the content on the way out.
If he hadn’t, the “website content would indeed have gone into the dustbin,” D’Alba said.
Since Clifford didn’t approve the settlements, D’Alba came up with another plan.
Apodaca and Kiner will give him the account information, he’ll verify it is what they say it is, and give it to the prevailing buyer. The sale is contingent on getting the website content, the trademark, the social media accounts and the website domain accounts.
Attorney William Beall, representing Romo, said the group plans to pay Apodaca and Kiner, probably by purchasing their bankruptcy claims.
Romo said the group sees the payments as a way to compensate them for their work on the sale.
