Creative Loafing, the newspaper chain noted for its tattoo parlor ads and reviews of acid-rock bands, has gone corporate.

The six-paper chain that operates weekly tabloids from Sarasota to Chicago was sold at auction here Tuesday to the chain's largest creditor, Atalaya Capital Management, a New York hedge fund.

Atalaya's bid of $5 million trounced a bid of $2.32 million by the chain's owners, the Eason family. The firm had loaned the paper $30 million in 2007 to buy the Washington City Paper and the Chicago Reader. The Easons declared bankruptcy in September 2008.

During the auction, attorneys for Creative Loafing argued that Atalaya's bid was not necessarily the best bid because the hedge fund might sell off each of the papers.

Atalaya has added veteran journalism executives to the board, including Jim O'Shea, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times and Michelle Laven, formerly of the New Times alternative weekly.

Ben Eason, chief executive officer of Creative Loafing until the auction, has been involved in newspapers for 20 years. He said he would stay in Tampa and start an online publication.