Champion Media Acquires North Carolina and South Carolina Assets of Civitas MediaBack to News

Mooresville, NC – June 15, 2017 – Champion Media LLC announced yesterday that it has acquired the North Carolina and South Carolina print, digital and local assets of Civitas Media LLC. The acquisition includes five daily newspapers and 17 weekly newspapers. The announcement was made by Champion Media CEO Scott T. Champion.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Civitas Media in the transaction.

The daily newspapers included in the deal were the Lumberton Robesonian, Mount Airy News, Rockingham Daily Journal, Clinton Sampson Independent and Laurinburg Exchange. The weeklies included: Jefferson Post, Your Carolina Connection, Elizabethtown Bladen Journal, Wadesboro Anson Record, Surry Scene, Elkin Tribune, Elkin Advertiser, Yadkin Ripple, Stokes News, Pilot Mountain News, Carroll News, Union Times, Union Grapevine, Newberry Observer, Newberry Shopper, Easley Progress and Pickens Sentinel.

The acquisition expands Champion Media’s stable of news properties to six dailies and 21 weeklies in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia. Scott Champion commented, “This investment strengthens Champion Media’s commitment to the local communities of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, serving as a local news source. The strength of local newspapers is as vital today as it was 50 years ago. We are proud of all the employees who come together each day to bring their communities a credible news product, either in print or digital.”

The new properties have a combined weekly circulation of approximately 225,000 and a monthly digital reach of more than four million unique visitors. Most of the newspapers have a rich history of serving their communities for well over 100 years. Champion added, “Civitas Media is a leading community newspaper group servicing many local markets in 11 states. Civitas newspapers have been providing leading news coverage for decades and we intend to engage with its employees to continue enhancing our content and coverage across the North Carolina and South Carolina communities.”

“We are delighted to have Scott Champion, our former COO and a leading media executive in the United States, acquire Civitas’ North Carolina and South Carolina properties,” said Lior Yahalomi, CEO of Civitas. “I would like to personally thank all of our Civitas North Carolina and South Carolina employees for the many years of dedicated and professional service. I wish them a great transition in becoming an important part of the Champion Media newspaper business.”

About Champion Media LLC

Champion Media of Mooresville, North Carolina, is a new entity formed by Scott and Corey Champion. Scott Champion has more than 40 years of experience in the newspaper industry, in a family that operated competitive shoppers dating back to the mid 1960’s. In his career, Scott has operated both small and large newspaper companies including American Publishing, Liberty Group Publishing, GateHouse Media and OCM. Scott’s current portfolio includes MCM Media, MCM Ohio and now Champion Media. Corey Champion graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in business finance and entrepreneurship and a master’s in accounting. Corey began his career with Kohler Company in Kohler, Wisconsin, before relocating to North Carolina. Corey is joining Scott in Champion Media as the controller.

About Civitas Media LLC

Civitas Media encompasses more than 100 publications, many of which have served their communities for more than a century. Civitas, Latin for “community” or “citizen” is a union of four media entities formerly known as Heartland Publications, Freedom Central, Impressions Media and Ohio Community Media. Civitas employs more than 1,100 associates across 11 states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Tennessee. It publishes 32 dailies, 28 weekend editions and 63 weekly publications for a combined circulation of more than 1.5 million. For further information, please visit CivitasMedia.com.