Report says private equity firm buys newspaper group that includes County Shopper, Times-Gazette
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A report in Editor and Publisher this week says an Ohio newspaper group that includes Hillsboro's Times-Gazette and County Shopper has been sold.
Under the byline of "Press Release," at www.editorandpublisher.com, the industry online publication reported May 20: "Ohio Community Media, LLC has sold a large group of daily and weekly newspapers in western and northern Ohio to an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Management Inc. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger and acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Ohio Community Media in the transaction. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"The acquiring company, OCM, LLC, is an affiliate of Versa Capital Management, which is making its first investment in the newspaper industry," E&P said.
Editor and Publisher said the Ohio group consists of 14 daily newspapers, more than 30 weeklies and a collection of shoppers and niche publications, clustered principally in the region between Dayton and Columbus.
The deal represents the latest in a series of sales of publications formerly owned by Brown Publishing Company.
As reported last year, Brown Media Holdings Co. and Brown Publishing Co., the former owner of two Highland County publications, the Times-Gazette and the County Shopper, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in the spring of 2010.
Brown also had owned newspapers in surrounding counties, including: the Wilmington News Journal and Star Republican, the Record Herald in Washington C.H., the People's Defender in West Union, the News Democrat in Georgetown and the Ripley Bee.
According to the AP, "The Cincinnati-based companies filed Friday, April 30, 2010 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York."
According to the press release, Versa Capital Management, Inc., based in Philadelphia, is a private equity investment firm with $950 million of committed capital focused on control investments in special situations involving middle market companies in a wide variety of industries throughout the United States.
Last year, a federal bankruptcy judge in New York approved the sale of most of the assets of Brown Publishing Co. to the company's lenders for about $21.8 million.
Pittsburgh's PNC Bank was the lead agent for those lenders.
The Brown family bought its first newspaper in Ohio in 1920 and expanded through numerous acquisitions over the years, before entering into bankruptcy in 2010.
Its former President and CEO, Roy Brown, also made an unsuccessful attempt at Congress, running against Third District Rep. Mike Turner in a contentious Republican primary in 2002.[[In-content Ad]]
Under the byline of "Press Release," at www.editorandpublisher.com, the industry online publication reported May 20: "Ohio Community Media, LLC has sold a large group of daily and weekly newspapers in western and northern Ohio to an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Management Inc. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger and acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Ohio Community Media in the transaction. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"The acquiring company, OCM, LLC, is an affiliate of Versa Capital Management, which is making its first investment in the newspaper industry," E&P said.
Editor and Publisher said the Ohio group consists of 14 daily newspapers, more than 30 weeklies and a collection of shoppers and niche publications, clustered principally in the region between Dayton and Columbus.
The deal represents the latest in a series of sales of publications formerly owned by Brown Publishing Company.
As reported last year, Brown Media Holdings Co. and Brown Publishing Co., the former owner of two Highland County publications, the Times-Gazette and the County Shopper, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in the spring of 2010.
Brown also had owned newspapers in surrounding counties, including: the Wilmington News Journal and Star Republican, the Record Herald in Washington C.H., the People's Defender in West Union, the News Democrat in Georgetown and the Ripley Bee.
According to the AP, "The Cincinnati-based companies filed Friday, April 30, 2010 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York."
According to the press release, Versa Capital Management, Inc., based in Philadelphia, is a private equity investment firm with $950 million of committed capital focused on control investments in special situations involving middle market companies in a wide variety of industries throughout the United States.
Last year, a federal bankruptcy judge in New York approved the sale of most of the assets of Brown Publishing Co. to the company's lenders for about $21.8 million.
Pittsburgh's PNC Bank was the lead agent for those lenders.
The Brown family bought its first newspaper in Ohio in 1920 and expanded through numerous acquisitions over the years, before entering into bankruptcy in 2010.
Its former President and CEO, Roy Brown, also made an unsuccessful attempt at Congress, running against Third District Rep. Mike Turner in a contentious Republican primary in 2002.[[In-content Ad]]