Alden Global Capital

Shareholders for Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 23 other papers in the Midwest, re-elected three directors on Thursday. That news could complicate any future takeover bid by Alden Global Capital.

The lawsuit isn’t unexpected. Journalism analysts and union representatives had anticipated that Alden Global Capital would continue to aggressively pursue a deal for the newspaper owner.

Lee Enterprises' board of directors rejected a buyout offer from Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for downsizing the newspapers it owns.

Harris Kupperman, who owns 7.3% of Lee Enterprises' shares, called Alden Global Capital's offer to buy the publisher for $141 million "insufficient and opportunistic."

Lee executives said the hedge fund, known for gutting the newspapers it acquires, did not follow the rules in trying to nominate three people to the the publisher's board.

New York-based Alden Global Capital is offering to buy Lee Enterprises, which owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Omaha World-Herald, the Sioux City Journal and other newspapers around the Midwest.