Cowles Media Co

Gannett Co., winning a monthlong bidding war against at least four other media companies, said Thursday that it had agreed in principle to acquire the Des Moines Register and three other sister newspapers for $200 million cash, a price substantially higher than previous known bids for the properties. The deal will give Rochester, N.Y.-based Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain, the biggest newspaper in Iowa.

The easy job for directors of newspaper giant Knight Ridder Inc. this weekend may be choosing the best of at least two offers for the company, experts said Friday. The tougher question: whether to sell at all. Neither Knight Ridder nor its suitors are talking, but news accounts have identified McClatchy Co., owner of the Sacramento Bee and 11 other daily newspapers, as the top bidder. The deal could turn the mid-size Sacramento-based company into the nation's No.