The two biggest papers in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, have been sold to a group of local business moguls. The website, Philly.com, was also part of the deal, which includes another $10 million in working capital.

Philadelphia Media Network, which filed for bankruptcy in 2009, will turn over operations to six investors who have formed the new parent company, Interstate General Media. The new leadership team includes Lewis Katz, George Norcross III, H.F. Lenfest, Krishna Singh, William Hankowsky and Joseph Buckelew.

As part of the deal, the six investors signed an agreement that they would not interfere with the operation of the newsrooms. PMN’s CEO, Gregory Osberg, will also remain in place.

Last year, it is arguable that no one city was hit the hardest in the newspaper industry recession than Philadelphia. Both the Philadelphia Enquirer and Philadelphia Daily News were forced to declare Chapter 11 under the umbrella of their publisher, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC. They were subsequently bought out by hedge-fund investors, but the price of two of the city’s biggest local papers remains unknown, and a federal judge has just backed up the creditors claim that they do not have to reveal the number.

This might be a problem for CEO Brian Tierney who, along with local investors, has raised $52 million to buy the paper back. It may seem like altruism, but remember, this is the same Tierney who was given a transportation budget of $1,500-a-week back in 2008. With numbers like that, no wonder the company went bankrupt.

Tierney bought the papers from McClatchy in 2006 for $562 million.

Read More: Hedge-fund creditors win round in newspapers’ bankruptcy case –Philly.com

, Tensions Flare in Philadelphia Newspapers Bankruptcy –New York Times

Previously: CEO of Philly Papers Given $1,500/Week for Transportation, Brian Tierney’s Business & PR Plan for Philadelphia Papers

Brian Tierney, the chief executive officer of Philadelphia Newspapers, received $81,000 in 2008 for transportation expenses from the company that filed for bankruptcy in February 2009.

Tierney, who along with other investors purchased the publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News in 2006 for more than $500 million, also received $650,000 in salary, a $350,000 bonus for 2008, and a $175,000 bonus for 2007. In total, his compensation came to $1.175 million, a number he called “very low.”

In late 2008, Philadelphia Newspapers union members agreed to give up their raises in an attempt to keep the company from bankruptcy.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, also cause for a law suit! The other day we, and others, noted the striking similarity between the logo for Tina Brown‘s newly launched website The Daily Beast and that of the Philadelphia Daily News. Seems it wasn’t lost on the folks in Philly either. Parent company Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, has issued a cease-and-desist order demanding the news site stop using “its potentially trademark-infringing logo.”

[The logo] is virtually identical in shape, color, font and style to our own Daily News logo…our readers could easily be duped into thinking that your Web site is somehow affiliated with the Daily News.</blockquote