New Media Acquires Monroe (MI) NewsBack to News

New York, NY – SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 – New Media Investment Group Inc. announced today that it acquired the Monroe (MI) News and related assets from the Monroe Publishing Company. 

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Monroe Publishing Company (MPC).

MPC is an employee-owned company that publishes the Monroe News, a 14,000-circulation daily newspaper and 21,000-circulation Sunday newspaper. In addition, MPC publishes Bedford Now, a weekly community newspaper distributed to 11,500 homes. The company also owns 20 Creative, a design and marketing agency, and Global Digital Printing, a specialty printing company. The Monroe News serves Monroe County, Michigan, which is located south of Detroit and north of Toledo, Ohio.

“Today’s announced acquisition highlights our continued success at purchasing high-quality, local media assets that fit within our operating and financial metrics,” said Michael E. Reed, president and chief executive officer of New Media. “We are pleased to add this terrific newspaper to our company.”

The Monroe News was owned from 1927 to 1994 by the Gray family. In 1994, the family sold the company to its employees, who continued to follow the founding principles of the Gray family: to have an impact on the community, to do good, to be innovative, to strive for quality, to be independent, to preserve history and to pursue an honorable livelihood.

Steve Gray, who still serves as chairman of the board, said, “The changing media environment has been very tough on single, stand-alone newspaper companies like us. Despite the team’s best efforts, it became clear that our employee shareholders needed to be able to diversify their holdings.

“We believe New Media’s much larger scale and significant corporate resources will help the News continue serving the Monroe County community indefinitely.”

Lonnie Peppler-Moyer, who has served as president and publisher of the company since 1997, said, “The employees of Monroe News and Bedford Now will continue to serve the communities we cover with the same dedication that has been part of our history.” 

New Media is one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States, as measured by its 126 daily publications. The company operates in more than 460 markets across 32 states. New Media’s portfolio of products includes more than 550 community publications and more than 460 related websites, serves more than 200,000 business advertising accounts and reaches more than 19 million people on a weekly basis.

For more information contact Owen Van Essen or Sara April at Dirks, Van Essen & Murray at 505-820-2700.