New Media to acquire Schurz Communications’ newspapers for $30.0M

January 29, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

New Media Investment GroupNew Media Investment Group Inc., one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States as measured by number of publications, has agreed to acquire the newspapers and related assets of Schurz Communications, Inc. for $30.0 million.

Schurz is selling ten daily newspapers, which include the highly attractive college towns of South Bend, IN (The South Bend Tribune) and Bloomington, IN (Herald-Times). The group has an average daily circulation of 105,000 and Sunday circulation of 94,000 and its websites average over 4 million unique visitors monthly and have over 300,000 social media followers. Additionally, there are nine weekly and fourteen other community publications that have aggregate weekly circulation of 250,000. These assets span Indiana, South Dakota, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Michael E. Reed, New Media President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are excited to welcome the Schurz publications and their employees into New Media. After nearly 150 years of ownership, we are honored that the Schurz family has chosen us to steward these papers into the future. They have a long history of strong journalism and community impact and we are excited to build upon their digital efforts with the introduction of our UpCurve products.”

USA, New York, NY & Michawaka, IN

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Digital First Media acquires the Boston Herald for $11.9M

March 19, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

Digital First MediaDigital First Media, one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States, has completed the acquisition of the Boston Herald for $11.9 million at an auction in which they outbid competitors GateHouse Media and Florida private equity firm Revolution Capital Group. The auction followed Herald publisher Patrick Purcell filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2017, citing declining revenue and readership.

Established in 1846 as a single two-sided sheet of news published by a group of Boston printers, the Boston Herald today has a circulation of 64,500, with an online following at BostonHerald.com.

Guy Gilmore, DFM’s chief operating officer, said, “DFM is pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of the Boston Herald through the next chapter of its storied history. The Herald is integral to the fabric of the great city of Boston”.

USA, Denver, CO & Boston, MA

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Newsquest to acquire regional media company CN Group

February 22, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

NewsquestNewsquest Media Group Ltd. is to acquire Cumbrian-based media company CN Group in a deal which is part of a larger, scaled operation by the board to better protect the long term future of the group, its staff and its pensioners. The business sold two of its local radio stations to Global Radio in the autumn. The terms of this transaction were not disclosed, but it is expected to complete shortly after shareholders meet on 9th March.

CN Group runs print, digital and event brands covering Cumbria, Northumberland, north Lancashire, and the Scottish Borders including several award-winning papers such as the News & Star, Cumberland News, Times & Star, The Whitehaven News, The Mail and Hexham Courant.

It also has a magazine division that includes Cumbria Life, Taste Cumbria, Bay Living, in-Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway Life, runs the Choose Cumbria marketing campaign, and events arm CN Events and a print division. It employs 324 people.

Henry Faure Walker, Newsquest chief executive, said: “We look forward to the opportunity of working with the CN Group, its staff and the community it represents in building on their great local brands and publishing expertise, and helping them forge a strong future. We will endeavour to support them with the scale and resources that Newsquest can provide, whilst enabling them to carry on what they have done so well for many years – namely providing first class content and advertising solutions for the people and businesses of Cumbria and the wider region.”

UK, Weybridge & Carlisle

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Groupe Lexis Media acquires 12 Transcontinental Media publications

December 12, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

Lexis MediaGroupe Lexis Media has acquired 12 of Transcontinental Inc.‘s publications, as well as their related web properties, with 75 employees of these various publications and 16 employees from TC Media’s Production team being transferred to the buyer. With the completion of this transaction, 60% of the publications included in the sale process of TC Media’s local and regional newspapers in Quebec and Ontario, launched in April 2017, are now in the hands of local owners. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Transcontinental is Canada’s largest printer with operations in print, flexible packaging, publishing and digital media and has more than 7,000 employees in Canada and the United States, and revenues of C$2.0 billion in 2016. Their mission is to create products and services that allow businesses to attract, reach and retain their target customers.

The newspapers acquired by Groupe Lexis Media are: Le Citoyen Rouyn-Noranda, Le Citoyen de la Vallee-de-l’Or, L’Echo Abitibien and La Frontiere, distributed in Abitibi-Temiscamingue; L’Action D’Autray, L’Action – Wednesday Edition, L’Action – Weekend Edition, L’Express Montcalm and Hebdo Rive-Nord, in Lanaudiere; Le Bulletin, La Petite-Nation and La Revue, in Outaouais.

Mr. Frederic Couture, President of Groupe Lexis Media, said: “Since its beginnings, Lexis Media has carved out a prominent position for itself in the media industry by bringing on a passionate editorial team and collaborators, and highly professional sales representatives. We intend to carry on this tradition as we confidently embark on this new phase of our development.”

Canada, Montreal & St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec

 

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American City Business Journals acquires Streetwise Media,

November 17, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

American City Business Journals, the USA’s largest print and online publisher of local business news, has acquired Streetwise Media, a Boston-based digital media company that uses a community publishing platform to cover local news. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Streetwise currently operates two web sites – www.bostinno.com in Boston and www.inthecapital.com in Washington, D.C. – that focus on local news about business, innovation and technology, education, politics and lifestyles.  The sites are targeted at young professionals in their 20’s and 30’s.

Collectively, the Streetwise sites attracted more than 2.6 million unique visitors in the last month and had more than 9 million page views.

“In a short amount of time, Streetwise has attracted a very loyal and robust audience that is different from but complementary to what we do at our business journals in Boston, Washington and elsewhere,” said Whitney Shaw, president and chief executive officer of ACBJ.

“We’re looking forward to helping Streetwise grow its business significantly and feel that many of the things we experienced building American City have a direct application to their efforts.”

Streetwise founders Chase Garbarino and Kevin McCarthy will remain with the company as chief executive officer and chief technology officer, respectively.  The company will continue to be based in Boston.

USA, Charlotte, NC & Boston, MA

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