Freedom Finalizes Letter of Intent to Sell Mesa (AZ) East Valley TribuneBack to News

MESA, AZ, November 30, 2009 – Freedom Communications has announced that it has entered into a letter of intent to sell the Mesa (AZ) East Valley Tribune to Thirteenth Street Media based in Boulder, Colorado.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is representing Freedom in the transaction.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning East Valley Tribune is a free-distribution newspaper serving suburban communities east of downtown Phoenix, including Mesa, Chandler, Queen Creek and Gilbert.

The transaction requires approval from a federal bankruptcy judge who is overseeing Freedom’s reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Thirteenth Street Media, whose president is Randy Miller, owns suburban publications in Tucson, as well as the Telluride (CO) Daily Planet. Both are free-distribution publications.

Freedom Communications, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a national privately owned information and entertainment company of print publications, broadcast television stations and interactive businesses. The company’s print portfolio includes more than 100 daily and weekly publications, including more than 30 daily newspapers, plus ancillary magazines and other specialty publications. The broadcast company’s stations – five CBS, two ABC network affiliates and one CW affiliate – reach more than 3 million households across the country. The company’s news, information and entertainment websites complement its print and broadcast properties.

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