Lake Charles American Press Acquires Sulphur-Area NewspapersBack to News

Lake Charles, LA – April 11, 2016 – The Lake Charles (LA) American Press, owned by the Shearman family, has acquired the Southwest Daily News in nearby Sulphur and two other area newspapers from New Media Investment Group.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, advised the Shearman family in the sale. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Acquired in the purchase were the Southwest Daily News; the Vinton News; and the Southwest Review, a shopper that covers areas of Westlake, Moss Bluff and Sulphur.

Tom Shearman III, American Press publisher since 1996, said there will be no immediate changes in the operations at those newspapers. Triangle Press in Port Arthur, Texas, is printing the newspapers.

“We will continue to serve readers in Sulphur, Vinton, Moss Bluff and Westlake,” Shearman said. “The American Press has served readers in those areas for more than 120 years through its daily paper, and this purchase will result in increased coverage of all major news events.”

Shearman is the fourth publisher of the American Press, which dates its founding to 1895 when it became a daily newspaper. His grandfather, Thomas Shearman Sr., bought the newspaper in 1943 from the heirs of its two founders, Guy Beatty and Frank A. Smith. It has been family owned since then.

GateHouse Media, now part of New Media, became owners of the newspapers as part of its acquisition of Liberty Group Publishing in 2005. Liberty bought them from Louisiana newspaper owner Erbon Wise and his partners in 1998.

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