PE firms lose Knight Ridder bid, but btill like media

Last week’s announcement that The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) agreed to acquire Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI) was not just bad news to a consortium of private equity firms that put together a competing bid for the media giant. It was also a sign that private equity and buyout firms are rising to the occasion and believe industry forecasts that say 2006 may be the biggest year since 2000 for media deals.