The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s English-language daily, became part of an international media empire Tuesday, when its sale to the Canadian-based Hollinger newspaper chain was finalized.
Hollinger Inc. paid over $17 million for a majority of Post shares, previously held by the Palestine Post Co., a subsidiary of the Israel Investors Corp.
IIC itself is a subsidiary of the financially troubled Koor Industries conglomerate, owned by Histadrut.
Koor is retrenching to manage its huge debt to Israeli and foreign banks.
Bank Hapoalim retains a minority interest in the newspaper.
Hollinger is headed by David Radler and Conrad Black.
Its holdings include The Daily Telegraph of London, The Spectator, a London weekly and more than 200 other publications, chiefly in North America.
According to Israel Radio, the agreement completing the sale contained a provision that the Post’s 270 employees would share a special onetime bonus of $200,000.
It was granted by the new owners to allay employees’ fears that the change of ownership would adversely affect their pensions and fringe benefits, Israel Radio said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
