A local group seeking to buy the Chicago Sun-Times said Monday it has raised the necessary cash to close the deal.
The group raised more than $11 million to buy the tabloid and its sister publication, Chicago Reader, according to Edwin Eisendrath, who heads the effort.
“The money is in the bank,” Eisendrath told The Post in a late afternoon phone call — just over an hour before the 5 p.m. (Central Time) deadline.
But Wrapports, the newspapers’ owner, has not officially received the offer, creating a little mystery in the Windy City.
“Wrapports will see it [on Tuesday],” Eisendrath said.
Tronc, owner of the larger Chicago Tribune, is believed to be the only other bidder in the hunt. It said in mid-May it had a definitive agreement to acquire its smaller rival provided no other suitor emerged.
Complicating their bid are Washington antitrust cops — who are said to be studying any potential Tronc-Sun-Times deal.
Eisendrath, a former Chicago alderman who once ran for governor, has the backing of a number of wealthy businessmen and the support of the Chicago News Guild, the union representing the Sun-Times’ journalists.