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Papers across the Front Range could be up for grabs as Digital First Media “evaluates” options.

On Sept. 12, Digital First Media, operator of The Denver Post, announced plans to “evaluate and consider strategic alternatives for the company’s business,” which could include selling the entire company, selling regional clusters of papers or doing nothing at all.

Digital First owns 76 newspapers across 18 states including The Denver Post, Daily Camera, Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Daily, Broomfield Enterprise and Colorado Hometown Weekly, as well as several other papers in Colorado. The media conglomerate also owns 160 weeklies. Altogether, Digital First employees 10,000 nationwide.

Digital First Media formed in December 2013 from a merger between Denver-based MediaNews Group and the former Journal Register Company, and is owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

Media analysts are saying that selling the company in regional clusters would be the best strategy. If that’s the case, Philip Anschutz is a likely fit for the Rocky Mountain region. Anschutz already holds The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City and The Gazette in Colorado Springs. Other potential buyers — on the opposite end of the political spectrum — with the financial clout to purchase an empire of newspapers are Congressman Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and Tim Gill, creator of the software-publishing program Quark.

Digital First said in a statement that there is no guarantee that a transaction of any sort will take place, and no developments on the situation will be disclosed until the board of directors assesses a “full range of opportunities.”

Digital First CEO John Paton says that there is no timeframe set in which a decision will be made about the future of the company, but media analyst Ken Doctor has said he believes the public will see the dissolution of the company within six months.

The Boulder Weekly reported Digital First might be readying its papers for sale in the April 10 cover story “What’s next?: Analysts predict Digital First Media is preparing to sell its newspapers. What this could mean for Boulder County and beyond.”

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com