Review-Journal parent execs seek out from Sun case

[October 03, 2013]  LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The corporate owners of the Las Vegas Review-Journal want a federal judge to drop two top executives and three business entities from a lawsuit by the editor-publisher of the rival Las Vegas Sun that aims to block a buyout attempt.

Stephens Media LLC attorney Colby Williams said Wednesday that Sun Editor-Publisher Brian Greenspun hasn't shown why Stephens Media Group CEO Mike Ferguson or Stephens Holding Co. of Arkansas and SF Holding Corp. President Warren Stephens -- or their companies -- should be named as plaintiffs.

A document filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas asks Judge James Mahan to also drop DR Partners from the case because it was succeeded in business by Stephens Media.

A separate filing responded point-by-point reply to Greenspun's initial Aug. 20 lawsuit.

It denies that a buyout would violate provisions of a federally-overseen joint operating agreement and give the Review-Journal a monopoly in the Las Vegas market.

Greenspun has vowed not to give up the newspaper his father founded in 1950. His attorney, Joseph Alioto, didn't immediately respond to messages.

The judge is expected to rule in coming days whether to keep Ferguson and Warren Stephens in the case.

He has ruled twice that it was too early to take up Brian Greenspun's effort to block Stephens Media from buying out Sun newspaper interests from three sibling Greenspun Media trustees. Brian Greenspun opposes the deal.

Alioto has said he would appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A sale would end publication of the Sun newspaper by the Review-Journal under a joint operating agreement that began in 1990 and is scheduled to run until 2040.

The newspapers have separate reporting staffs in separate locations, with the Review-Journal handling combined advertising and circulation. The Sun is distributed as a daily six-to-10-page section within the Review-Journal.

[Associated Press; By KEN RITTER]

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