Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. to Acquire Eagle-Tribune Publishing Co.Back to News

NORTH ANDOVER, MA July 27, 2005 – Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI) of Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to purchase Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company, ETPC chairman and publisher Irving E. "Chip" Rogers III announced today. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Formed in 1997, CNHI is the parent company for daily, weekly and semi-weekly newspapers published in more than 150 communities throughout the United States. ETPC publishes newspapers serving 55 communities in northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented ETPC in the transaction.

With weekday readership totaling more than 291,000, ETPC’s four daily newspapers include The Eagle-Tribune, based in North Andover, MA; The Salem (MA) News, based in Beverly, MA; Gloucester (MA) Daily Times; and The Daily News of Newburyport, MA. Daily circulation totals 105,958.

Additionally, ETPC publishes six non-daily newspapers. ETPC’s daily and weekly circulation totals more than 205,000. Its daily and weekly newspapers combine to reach more than 341,000 readers.

The Rogers family of Andover, MA has owned Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company for 107 years. The Lawrence Daily Eagle was founded in 1868 and the competing Evening Tribune was launched in 1890. Alexander Rogers, great-grandfather of current chairman and publisher Chip Rogers, was a reporter for the Daily Eagle when he borrowed from his father to acquire the two papers in 1898.

Chip Rogers assumed the role of publisher in 1998, following the death of his father, Irving E. Rogers, Jr.

The Eagle-Tribune, the company’s flagship daily newspaper, has been the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes — the first in 1988 and the second in 2003 — and has been named a Pulitzer runner-up on two other occasions.

Rogers views CNHI’s acquisition of the family-owned company as “a natural step forward for ETPC’s future growth,” he said. “CNHI is focused on high-quality local journalism — and that’s what we’ve been about for 107 years,” he said. “During that time, my family has been honored to play a part in building and strengthening the communities we serve. No question: It’s a stewardship.”

Mike Reed, CNHI’s president and CEO, looks forward to the opportunities the acquisition of ETPC will create. “Not only are these newspapers well-known and respected in our industry for their journalistic excellence, they are also noted for being well run businesses, which speaks highly of the Rogers family,” he said. “We are proud to have these newspapers join the CNHI family and we know we will learn much from them.”

After this acquisition is complete, CNHI will own 91 daily newspapers in 23 states with combined daily circulation of more than 1 million.