Cox Enterprises to Sell The Daily Sentinel and The Nickel (Grand Junction, Colo.) to Grand Junction Media, Inc.Back to News

ATLANTA, July 16, 2009 – Cox Enterprises, Inc. announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to sell The Daily Sentinel and The Nickel (Grand Junction, Colo.) to Grand Junction Media, Inc., which is owned by Seaton Publishing Co. The transaction is expected to close in the upcoming weeks.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, acted as an advisor to Cox Enterprises in the transaction.

The Daily Sentinel is the largest daily newspaper between Denver and Salt Lake City and is consistently recognized as one of Colorado’s best mid-sized newspapers. “Cox greatly values the contributions made by The Daily Sentinel, The Nickel and their employees,” said Doug Franklin, executive vice president, Cox Newspapers. “Seaton Publishing has more than 100 years of experience publishing newspapers and serving advertisers. Under its leadership, we are confident that The Daily Sentinel and The Nickel will continue to be vital within Grand Junction.”

”We feel fortunate to be joining the Grand Junction community, and especially fortunate to work with a terrific management team and staff at the Sentinel,” said Ned Seaton, president of Grand Junction Media. “We believe in community newspapers, particularly the Sentinel, and we look forward to continuing its tradition of service to readers and advertisers.”

Founded in 1915, Seaton Publishing Co. is based in Manhattan, Kansas. It is a family-owned business associated with other family-owned and operated newspaper businesses in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Jay Seaton, executive vice president of Grand Junction Media, will join the management team at The Daily Sentinel team and move to Grand Junction.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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

Cox Enterprises

Cox Enterprises is a leading communications, media and automotive services company. With revenues exceeding $15 billion and more than 77,000 employees, the company’s major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications, Inc. (cable television distribution, telephone, high-speed Internet access, commercial telecommunications, advertising solutions and the Travel Channel); Manheim, Inc. (vehicle auctions, repair and certification services and web-based technology products); Cox Media Group, Inc. (television stations, digital media, newspapers, advertising sales rep firms and Cox Radio, Inc.); and AutoTrader.com (online automotive classifieds and related publications). Additionally, Cox’s Internet operations include Kudzu.com and Adify Corporation, a unit of Cox TMI, Inc.