Gannett to Acquire Ohio Newspapers from Journal Community Publishing Group
McLEAN, VA – Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) today agreed to acquire the Central Ohio Advertiser Network from Journal Community Publishing Group, Inc., a Journal Communications, Inc (NYSE: JRN) company. The deal includes: eight weekly shoppers with the Advertiser brand and multiple specialty products, as well as, a commercial print operation, Advantage Press and a 36,500-square-foot production facility located in Carroll, Ohio.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The Advertiser will become part of Gannett’s Newspaper Network of Central Ohio (NNCO), a group of 12 daily and non-daily Gannett newspapers in Central Ohio. NNCO also publishes 14 websites (including sites for each of its newspapers and CentralOhio.com) which generated more than 27,000,000 page views and 1,100,000 unique visitors in May 2007. Currently, NNCO print and online products reach more than 498,500 different people over 7-days in the markets they serve.
“This acquisition makes perfect sense for Gannett and NNCO,” said Bob Robbins, president and publisher of NNCO. “The Central Ohio Advertiser Network is a strong brand and a great fit with our existing portfolio of daily and weekly newspapers in the region.”
Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 85 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly 1,000 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes nearly 300 titles, including 18 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.
Media inquiries:
Carl Lovern
VP/Market Development – NNCO
(740) 328-8572
clovern@nncogannett.com