It’s Over: Gerry Lenfest Takes Control of Inky

New owner must point the papers to the future.

“Businessman and philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest took control of The Inquirer and its parent company Wednesday with the formal closing of a May 27th auction sale of the property for $88 million,” the Inquirer reports.

The closing ends a bizarre few months of ownership squabbling and shifting that went more or less like this:

• The old majority ownership faction, led by George Norcross, fired Inky editor Bill Marimow.

• The minority ownership faction, led by Lenfest and the late Lewis Katz, sued to restore Marimow to power.

• They won.

• But then the two sides grappled for the control of the papers.

• Resulting in the auction two weeks ago, in which Katz and Lenfest won — probably accidentally — control of the papers.

• A week later, Lewis Katz died in a plane crash in Massachusetts. His shares in the newspaper company passed to his son, Drew.

• Drew on Tuesday announced he was selling those shares to Lenfest.

• Which occurred today, before the closing of the $88 million sale.

It’s all over now, right? No more weird twists and turns?