Cox Enterprises to Sell The Lufkin Daily News and The Daily Sentinel to Southern NewspapersBack to News

ATLANTA, May 28, 2009 – Cox Enterprises, Inc. announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to sell The Lufkin Daily News and The Daily Sentinel (Nacogdoches, Texas) to Houston-based Southern Newspapers. The transaction is expected to close on May 31, 2009.

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.

“Cox Enterprises greatly values the contributions that the employees of The Lufkin Daily News and The Daily Sentinel have made to our company,” said Doug Franklin, executive vice president, Cox Newspapers. “These local institutions are important to their communities, and we are confident that Southern Newspapers will continue the tradition these newspapers have of providing timely, valuable and trustworthy news and information to their readers.”

“Both The Lufkin Daily News and The Daily Sentinel are well-respected publications and have served their communities and advertisers with distinction,” said Lissa Walls Vahldiek, chief operating officer, Southern Newspapers. “We look forward to working with the talented employees of both newspapers to further build on these publications’ already strong relationships with their readers in Lufkin and Nacogdoches.”

Cox Enterprises’ other newspapers in Texas, including the Austin American-Statesman; its affiliated operations including Austin360.com; and all of Cox’s stand-alone community newspapers in North Carolina and Colorado continue to be marketed for sale.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

If you have further questions contact Owen Van Essen at Dirks, Van Essen & Murray at 505-820-2700, or visit our website at www.dirksvanessen.com.

Cox Enterprises

Cox Enterprises, Inc. 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 majority-owned, publicly-traded 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.

Southern Newspapers, Inc.

Southern Newspapers owns the Galveston County Daily News, along with the Bay City Tribune, the Baytown Sun, the Brazosport Facts, the Del Rio News-Herald, Fort Payne (Ala.) Times-Journal, the Kerrville Daily Times, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, the Paris News, the Sand Mountain Reporter (in Albertville, Ala.), the Scottsboro (Ala.) Daily Sentinel, the Sequin Gazette-Enterprise, the Walton Tribune (in Monroe, Ga.) and the Weekly Post (in Rainsville, Ala.).