Loudoun Times-Mirror Acquires Leesburg TodayBack to News

Leesburg, VA – November 2, 2015 – The Loudoun Times-Mirror, a weekly newspaper based in Leesburg, VA., has acquired the assets of the weekly newspapers Leesburg Today and Ashburn Today and the LeesburgToday.com web site. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Leesburg Today was founded in 1988 by publisher Brett Phillips and a group of local investors.  In 2006, Dallas-based American Community Newspapers purchased the company, then sold it in 2012 to Texas-based HPR-Hemlock LLC, which operates locally as Northern Virginia Media Services

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented HPR in the sale.

“We’ve received a warm welcome from the people of Leesburg and Loudoun County and our employees from the time of our purchase in 2012, and we have appreciated the kindness,” said Bruce Potter, chief operating officer of Northern Virginia Media Services.  “Our goal has been to provide a quality newspaper to local residents and also to provide good jobs to talented people. Selling Leesburg Today to the Times-Mirror seemed to us to be the best for the future of the news business and for the community.”

Northern Virginia Media Services owns and will continue to operate its other properties in the region, which include six other weekly newspapers: the Arlington Sun Gazette; the Sun Gazette serving the Great Falls, McLean, Oakton, Tysons and Vienna areas of Fairfax County; Prince William Today; the Stafford County Sun; the Belvoir Eagle; and the Quantico Sentry. The company also publishes the monthly newspaper Middleburg Life; Washington FAMILY Magazine; and a regional news web site, InsideNoVa.com.

Loudoun Times-Mirror is owned and operated by local resident Peter Arundel, who has served as President and CEO of the company since 1996. The Times-Mirror traces its roots to 1855 with the founding of the Loudoun Mirror.

Peter Arundel’s father, Arthur (Nick) Arundel, purchased the Loudoun Times-Mirror in 1963. After the passing of his father in 2012, Peter Arundel purchased the company from his family. The media company, Virginia News Group, has been under Arundel family ownership for 52 years.

“This is a watershed moment in the history of our company,” said Arundel. “We regard local news as a public trust and remain deeply committed to Loudoun readers and advertisers.”

The Times-Mirror plans to expand coverage of Leesburg and is extending job offers to several Leesburg Today employees.  

The Loudoun Times-Mirror was ranked “Best Large Weekly in the State” by the Virginia Press Association in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Virginia News Group also publishes the Fauquier Times, Prince William Times and Gainesville Times.

For more information, contact Owen Van Essen at owen@dirksvanessen.com or 505-820-2700.