The San Diego Union Tribune today confirmed rumors that yes, MediaNews is showing interest in purchasing the newspaper.

In a July memo to employees, Dean Singleton and Jody Lodovic assured that, “MediaNews is not currently looking to acquire more newspapers,” adding that focus would be better placed on reinventing its current business model.

But MediaNews representatives — by some accounts, including Singleton himself — were among a half-dozen potential purchasers who visited the paper recently to hear more about the business, according to today’s U-T story by reporter Thomas Kupper.

Also expressing interest: Black Press, Stephens Media, Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos, investment firm Platinum Equity and the Tribune Co., who owns the LA Times.

“Both Tribune Co. and MediaNews might see synergies between the Union-Tribune and their other properties in California. MediaNews, for example, already runs a number of California papers under a “clustering” strategy in which some functions are centralized or shared,” Kupper wrote.

“That strategy led the Denver-based company to its last major purchase, the 2006 acquisition of the San Jose Mercury News. With a portfolio that also includes the Los Angeles Daily News, Oakland Tribune and Long Beach Press-Telegram, the company has become the largest newspaper publisher in California.

“However, MediaNews CEO William Dean Singleton’s California ambitions have required him to take on partners. Many of his California papers are owned by an entity called the California Newspapers Partnership, in which MediaNews holds a controlling 54 percent stake with partners Stephens Media and Gannett holding the rest…”

News of potential U-T buyers was reported first by the nonprofit Web site VoiceofSanDiego.org, which also quoted a consultant estimating the paper’s value at $200-$300 million.

“The MediaNews newspapers tend not to be known for their quality,” reporter Randy Dotinga noted, “although its flagship paper — The Denver Post — won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Columbine High School massacre.”