New York Times closes sale of Boston Globe

A morning delivery of the Boston Globe newspaper sits on a front porch in Medford, Massachusetts May 4, 2009. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

(Reuters) - The New York Times Co said on Thursday it had closed the sale of The Boston Globe to Boston Red Sox owner John Henry after a Massachusetts judge lifted a temporary injunction halting the deal. Henry agreed to buy the Globe and its sister newspaper, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, for $70 million, a fraction of the price the New York Times paid for the papers 20 years ago. A Massachusetts judge halted the close of the sale because it could complicate a pending class-action lawsuit against the Telegram & Gazette filed by the newspaper carriers. According to a report in The New York Times, the judge said the deal could move forward because the Times said how much each asset was worth and agreed to place that amount in escrow. (Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York, editing by G Crosse)