Davon Press Sold to Forum CommunicationsBack to News

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, December 20, 2004 – Davon Press, Inc. of West Fargo announced that it has been purchased by Forum Communications Co., owner of The Forum. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Davon Press publishes the weekly West Fargo Pioneer newspaper, circulation 2,270; the Midweek, a weekly newspaper with free circulation of 51,750; and Fargo-Moorhead Magazine, published bi-monthly. It also operates a commercial printing company.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Davon Press, Inc. in the transaction.

"To ensure future growth of the publications, we have decided that the time has come to accept The Forum’s offer to purchase the corporation," Donovan and Betty Witham, founders and majority shareholders of Davon Press, Inc., said in a joint statement.

The couple built Davon Press from its start, beginning in 1967 with the establishment of the West Fargo Pioneer. They purchased the former Binford Guide, now Fargo-Moorhead Magazine, in 1990. Davon Press is located at 615 Main Ave. in West Fargo.

"This acquisition is a perfect fit for our company," said William C. Marcil, president and CEO of Forum Communications. "Don and I go back many years discussing this possibility and I’m very pleased that Davon Press remains locally owned.

"Davon is a well-run company and we do not plan any significant changes in personnel," Marcil added.

Fargo-based Forum Communications owns newspapers, broadcast and interactive media, and commercial printing businesses in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.