PUBLISHER Mort Zuckerman has joined the fight for New York’s Newsday, launching a $580m (£292m) offer for the suburban newspaper.

Zuckerman, the property tycoon who owns New York’s Daily News, has priced his bid to match an offer from News Corporation, owner of The Sunday Times.

Zuckerman may be betting that News Corp will face regulatory hurdles with its proposed deal because it already owns the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal and two New York city-area television stations. News Corp executives, however, believe the deal will get approval.

Newsday is part of the Tribune Company, America’s second-largest newspaper group.

Chicago-based investor Sam Zell bought the group for $8.2 billion last April and is selling off assets including the Chicago Cubs baseball team and its share in the Food Network TV channel. Tribune faces the burden of about $1 billion this year in debt-service costs.

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and Zell struck an informal agreement last weekend on key aspects of a deal for Newsday. Newsday would be part of a venture with the New York Post, saving on back-office operations and gaining from joint advertising deals.

The New York Post is strongest in metropolitan New York city, whereas Newsday’s readership is concentrated in Long Island’s suburbs. Tribune would retain a stake of less than 5% in the new group for tax purposes.

Zuckerman’s deal would be similarly structured, combining his Daily News with Newsday and leaving Tribune with a small stake.

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