StreetInsider | York Daily Record
Newspaper giant Gannett today announced it was acquiring 11 properties from Digital First Media, including the El Paso Times, The Alamogordo (New Mexico) Daily News and the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record.
The acquisitions come shortly before before Gannett splits into two companies — TEGNA, which will retain the company’s broadcast properties, and Gannett, a spinoff publishing division.
The acquisition of the Digital First Media properties is in line with thinking articulated by Ken Doctor that the media company was planning to sell off its assets in piecemeal fashion after a reported deal with equity firm Apollo Global Management failed to materialize. He also reported that Gannett would acquire papers in Pennsylvania and New Mexico.
Robert Dickey, soon-to-be CEO of Gannett’s publishing company, hailed the acquisitions in a statement:
We are very pleased to welcome these well-respected media organizations to U.S. Community Publishing as we further our efforts to expand our reach as the best local media company in America for consumers and businesses,” said Robert Dickey, president of U.S. Community Publishing and CEO-designate of Gannett “SpinCo” following the separation of the company mid-2015. “There is no media company in America that knows local communities better and with USA TODAY, the company has outstanding national to local scale.
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