The company plans to merge newsroom functions at the rival newspapers, relying on a single beat reporter, for instance, to provide event coverage for the broadsheet Inquirer and tabloid Daily News.

The newspapers will also leave their headquarters building this summer and move to city-subsidized space in a vacant department store. The building was sold as part of the bankruptcy.

The Newspaper Guild questions whether the job cuts are necessary, given what it called $6 million in union concessions in the 2010 contract.

“Whether Osberg wants to admit it or not, the print editions of the Inquirer and Daily News, which he offensively labels `legacy products,’ are responsible for generating more than 90 percent of the revenue,’’ the guild said.

However, Block said the cuts are part of an industrywide trend and aren’t connected to the sale.

Cable TV mogul and philanthropist H.F. “Gerry’’ Lenfest leads the group trying to negotiate a deal with the hedge funds. The investor group includes powerful New Jersey Democrat George E. Norcross III, former New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz and 94-year-old business magnate Raymond Perelman. It’s unclear if former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who announced the bid last month, is still involved. His spokeswoman has said he cannot comment because of a confidentiality clause.

Observers believe the sale may be completed by March 31. Lenfest doesn’t expect any news this week.

“We have to go further in getting a deal done,’’ Lenfest told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Two people familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements, have put the sale price at $40 million to $70 million. Company earnings dropped to $4 million last year, they said.