The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking Tribune Publishing Co, which owns the Los Angeles Times, from acquiring papers in nearby Orange and Riverside Counties, saying the acquisition would lessen competition.
Tribune said earlier Thursday it was paying $56 million for Freedom, which publishes Orange County's Register and the Press-Enterprise in Riverside County.
The Justice Department said the Tribune purchase of Freedom would give it 98 percent of newspaper sales in Orange County and 81 percent of English-speaking newspaper sales in Riverside.
"If this acquisition is allowed to proceed, newspaper competition will be eliminated and readers and advertisers in Orange and Riverside Counties will suffer," said Bill Baer, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, in a statement.
Tribune did not respond to a request for comment.
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