[16] In November 2011, Platinum Equity sold the newspaper to MLIM Holdings, a company led by Doug Manchester, a San Diego real estate developer and "an outspoken supporter of conservative causes".

The official announcement explained the change as being intended to "unify our print and digital products under a single brand with a clear and consistent expectation of quality".

[23] Six months later the U-T North County Times name was dropped and the newspaper became a North County edition of the U-T.[24] In November 2013, the newspaper bought eight more local weekly newspapers (La Jolla Light, Del Mar Times, Rancho Santa Fe Review, Poway News Chieftain, Rancho Bernardo & 4S Ranch News Journal, the Solana Beach Sun, the Carmel Valley News and the Ramona Sentinel) in the San Diego area, which continued publication under their own names.

[28][29] On May 26, 2015, the newspaper announced it would lay off 178 employees, representing about thirty percent of the total staff, as it consolidated its printing operations with the Times in Los Angeles.

In February 2018, a deal was reached to sell the Union-Tribune to Patrick Soon-Shiong, a medical doctor who has made billions as a biotech entrepreneur.

[6] On July 10, 2023, it was announced that the U-T was sold to the MediaNews Group, owned by Alden Global Capital, for an undisclosed sum.

[34] On June 13, 2024, a newly redesigned website was launched, similar to other newspapers in the Alden Global Capital group, replacing a design that was used for the Los Angeles Times.

[36] Under the Copleys' ownership, the newspaper had a reliably conservative editorial position, endorsing almost exclusively Republicans for elective office, and sometimes refusing to interview or cover Democratic candidates.

[citation needed] Under Platinum Equity, the newspaper's editorial position "skewed closer to the middle" and showcased multiple viewpoints.

"[43] This open promotion of certain viewpoints resulted in criticism from journalism professors and other newspaper editors, who worried that negative news about topics such as the military and business might not be covered.

[44] Dean Nelson, director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University, argued, "Now if you're saying we're going to be the cheerleaders of the military, why would you report on this guy that's taking bribes?...

[45] A New York Times writer added, "There is a growing worry that the falling value and failing business models of many American newspapers could lead to a situation where moneyed interests buy papers and use them to prosecute a political and commercial agenda.

Williams said the effort showed "the extent to which the newspaper's new owners will go to push their vision for a football stadium on the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal",[48] During the 2012 mayoral election the owners of the U-T donated to Republican City Council Member Carl DeMaio's campaign,[49] and the newspaper ran several prominent editorials favoring DeMaio.

[50] In October 2012, a poll was taken by the U-T asking respondents to choose between DeMaio and Democratic Congressman Bob Filner in the mayoral election to be held in November.

Reporter Kelly Davis of SDCityBeat.com wrote: "Common sense dictates that those votes [by city employees or those living with them] would swing in Filner's favor due to DeMaio's long-running feud with city-employee unions."

But U-T assignment editor Michael Smolens replied that "city employees were excluded to avoid political entanglements" in other parts of the ballot as well as in the mayor's race.