Agreement Reached for Sale of Washington (NC) Daily NewsBack to News

WASHINGTON, NC, June 16, 2010 – An agreement has been reached in principle for the sale of the Washington Daily News by the Futrell family to Washington Newsmedia LLC, a newly formed media company controlled by Boone Newspapers Inc. of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is representing the Futrell family in the transaction.

The announcement was made today by Publisher Ashley B. Futrell Jr. to the newspaper’s staff. The decision to sell the paper will end more than 60 years of Futrell family’s control of the newspaper. Ashley B. Futrell became editor and publisher of the paper in 1949. The younger Futrell will retain a minority stake in the new publishing company.

Washington Newsmedia LLC will publish the Daily News, The Scuppernong Reminder, a weekly publication serving Tyrrell County, and other affiliated publications. The Daily News won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for a series of stories on local water quality.

Boone Newspapers owns and manages newspapers in similar-sized communities in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Minnesota, Ohio and Michigan. Properties close to Washington include The Roanoke-Chowan (NC) Herald, The Gates County (NC) Index, The Suffolk (VA) News-Herald and The Franklin (VA) Tidewater News.

Due diligence is under way now toward the completion of the transaction, with closing scheduled on or near July 31.

If you have further questions contact Dirks, Van Essen & Murray at 505-820-2700.