Vancouver businessman and arts patron Ron Stern's investment company will put in an offer for two Philadelphia papers, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Stern Partners will be one of three groups submitting bids during a bankruptcy auction tomorrow (April 27) in New York City for Philadelphia Newspapers LLC. It owns the Philadelphia Daily News and the Inquirer.

Stern Partners owns controlling interests in the Winnipeg Free Press, a newsprint mill, a paper mill, and retail, technology, real estate, and distribution companies.

The Canadian dollar is trading near par with the U.S. greenback, which puts Stern Partners on a level playing field with two American competitors in the auction: the New York-based Alden Group and a Philadelphia group of investors.

Stern, who tends to avoid the media spotlight, is a former chair of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.