Los Angeles Magazine stated that the New Times Los Angeles "blasted" the LA Weekly "as often as it remembered to—calling its staff dunderheads, beret wearers, throwbacks, and ass kissers.
This agreement and phasing out of the two newspapers led to an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The investigation resulted in a settlement, requiring the companies to sell off assets and the old newspapers' titles to any potential competitors.
[citation needed] The assets included such things as "office furniture, telephone systems", "all rights to the print and electronic archives of New Times LA publications", "permits and licenses for individual distribution racks and boxes", and "all customer lists, contracts, accounts, and credit records".
Among the assets included news racks, which allowed Southland to start two new papers: Los Angeles CityBeat and ValleyBeat.