Baltimore Sun Media Group Acquires City PaperBack to News

BALTIMORE, MD – February 20, 2014 – The Baltimore Sun Media Group (BSMG) today announced it has reached an agreement to purchase the Baltimore City Paper from Times-Shamrock Communications.  The Baltimore City Paper has a circulation of approximately 50,000 in the Baltimore area and 200,000 unique website visitors generating approximately 900,000 page views per month.  Following the close of the transaction, The Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore City Paper will each maintain separate editorial and sales teams.  Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  

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

“This represents a great opportunity to add another successful media property to our portfolio,” said Timothy E. Ryan, Publisher, President and CEO of BSMG.  “This acquisition will allow us to build upon the existing success of the City Paper, and take advantage of the resulting efficiencies on the advertising and business side.  We want the paper to remain a valued alternative, independent voice in Baltimore. That’s what made it attractive to us – it’s adding a unique population of readers to our overall audience.”

Jennifer Marsh has been named as the City Paper’s new general manager.  Marsh began her career at the City Paper as an editorial intern in 1988.  She climbed the ranks and was named to the top leadership role at the newspaper in 2011.  Earlier this year, Marsh joined the Baltimore Sun Media Group as Niche Products Director. 

“Clearly, Jen knows and understands the City Paper audience and was integral in helping to make it the success it is today,” said Judy Berman, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing for BSMG.   “We’re delighted she has agreed to join the City Paper team and again take part in the growth of the city’s alternative voice,”

“We couldn’t have found a better buyer for the City Paper,” said Scott Lynett, Publisher of Times-Shamrock Communications.  “We’re confident that The Baltimore Sun Media Group will maintain what we’ve worked so hard to establish – an independent source of news and opinions on local politics, communities, culture and arts in Baltimore.”

Audited by the nationally recognized Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), formerly known as the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), the City Paper distributes free via yellow street vending machines and other locations, circulating in more than 1,300 locations in the metropolitan Baltimore area.

Owned by Tribune Company, The Baltimore Sun Media Group publishes The Baltimore Sun, and baltimoresun.com as well as b, a free weekly.  Many Baltimore metropolitan area community newspapers are also published by The Baltimore Sun Media Group including The Aegis, APG News, Arbutus Times, Baltimore Messenger, Carroll Eagle, Catonsville Times, Columbia Flier, Howard County Times, The Jeffersonian, Laurel Leader, North County News, Northeast Booster/Reporter, Owings Mills Times, the Record, Soundoff!, Towson Times, and the Weekender.  The Baltimore Sun Media Group also publishes several magazines including Chesapeake Home + Living, Guide to Howard County, Harford Magazine, Howard Magazine and Maryland Family Magazine.  In print and online, The Business Sun Media Group reaches 1.1 million readers each week in the Baltimore area, making it the region’s most widely read source of news and information. 

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

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