Bidding begins in Philadelphia newspaper auction

[April 28, 2010]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Revlon chairman Ronald Perelman and his philanthropist father are pledging up to $27 million toward a local bid for Philadelphia's two largest newspapers at a bankruptcy auction in New York.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that bidding began at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday. That's about 17 hours after the scheduled start of the closed-door auction for the Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. The two sides had been haggling over the auction rules Tuesday.

Court papers filed by the company Tuesday show 92-year-old Raymond Perelman has committed $12.6 million in cash and his son, Ronald, $4.4 million to the local bid. They are also offering up to $10 million in loans.

That group is competing with secured creditors and a Canadian investment firm in the bidding.

[Associated Press; By MARYCLAIRE DALE]

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