Gannett on Wednesday officially announced that it has acquired the Bergen Record, the Herald News and other assets of North Jersey Media Group Inc.
The price was not disclosed.
Gannett, the largest newspaper company in the United States, expects the purchase will add $90 million in annual revenues. Its portfolio of U.S.-based daily newspapers will grow to 109.
The Record, which has been owned by the Borg family since 1930, is the latest in a long line of privately-owned daily newspapers sold off to a corporate chain. Malcolm Borg, who belongs to the family’s fourth generation, announced the sale in a letter to employees obtained by Politico.
We’ve always strived for excellence, whether investigating politicians, covering a town meeting, breaking news online such as the George Washington Bridge scandal, printing and distributing our and other publications or even photographing a house for one of our magazines. Our stories got laws changed, revealed epidemics like heroin in the suburbs, helped clean up the environment, and stopped corruption, among many other positive effects.
Gannett has been on something of an acquisition spree since June 2015, when its newspapers were separated into a spinoff company of the same name. Since then, it has purchased Journal Media Group for $240 million, mounted a thwarted takeover bid for Tribune Publishing, purchased marketing services firm ReachLocal for $156 million and made today’s acquisition.
News of today’s purchase leaked out weeks in advance, with both Politico and The New York Post published items hinting a deal was in the works.
