The board of Tribune Publishing Company (NasdaqGM:TPCO) said the latest bid for the company from a Maryland hotel executive and a Swiss billionaire - $18.50 per share or an estimated $680 million - is "superior" to a previous bid from Alden Global Capital LLC. The Chicago company said the offer from Newslight LLC, owned by Choice Hotels Chairman Stewart Bainum and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, is superior to the $630 million February offer, or $17.25 per share, made by Alden, which owns 32% of Tribune Publishing. The Newslight offer, Tribune Publishing said in a statement, "would reasonably be expected to lead to a 'Superior Proposal' as defined in Tribune's merger agreement with affiliates of Alden Global Capital LLC. The acquisition proposal from Newslight is fully financed by equity commitments from Mr. Bainum and Mr. Wyss." The board's decision allows Newslight to acquire diligence information about Tribune Publishing, but added it "does not allow Tribune to terminate the Alden Merger Agreement or enter into any merger agreement with Newslight, Mr. Bainum or Mr. Wyss." Originally, Alden's offer to buy the remainder of Tribune Publishing, which owns The Baltimore Sun, carved out the Sun from the deal because Bainum was interested in buying the Baltimore paper. But that part of the deal fell through, and now Bainum and Newslight want to buy the whole Tribune Publishing operation.