McClatchy to Sell Akron (OH) Beacon Journal to Black Press Ltd.Back to News

SACRAMENTO, CA and VICTORIA, BC, June 7, 2006 – The McClatchy Company today announced a definitive agreement to sell the Akron (OH) Beacon Journal to Sound Publishing Holdings Inc. Sound Publishing Holdings Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Black Press Ltd., a Canadian company which produces over 100 publications in British Columbia, Alberta, Washington State and Hawaii. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed at the buyer’s request.

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

The purchase covers the Akron Beacon Journal (daily circulation 136,803 and Sunday circulation 185,403) and certain publications and web sites related to the newspaper. The Akron Beacon Journal is currently owned by Knight-Ridder Inc., which McClatchy has agreed to acquire. The parties intend to close the transaction as soon as possible after the close of McClatchy’s Knight Ridder acquisition, which is expected this summer.

“Our aim throughout the divestiture process was to find the right buyers for the right newspapers,” said Gary Pruitt, CEO of McClatchy. “We believe that Black Press Ltd. and the Akron Beacon Journal are a great fit, and we look forward to seeing this relationship develop in the future.”

“Under the direction of the Knight family and Knight Ridder, the Akron Beacon Journal has been a good community newspaper for a long time. We believe in the same focus on local journalism of high quality,” said Black Press Ltd. CEO David Black.

McClatchy, headquartered in Sacramento, California, is a leading newspaper and internet publisher. It publishes 12 daily and 16 non-daily newspapers located in western coastal states, North and South Carolina, and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. McClatchy has daily circulation of 1.4 million and Sunday circulation of 1.8 million. McClatchy’s newspapers include, among others, the Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee and The Modesto Bee in California, the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, the Tacoma (WA) News Tribune the Anchorage (AK) Daily News and Vida en el Valle, a bilingual Spanish weekly newspaper distributed throughout California’s Central Valley. McClatchy also operates leading local websites in each of its daily newspaper markets, offering readers information, comprehensive news, advertising, e-commerce and other services, and owns and operates McClatchy Interactive, an interactive operation that provides websites with content, publishing tools and software development. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (MNI).

Black Press Ltd. is a private company that owns and operates 115 newspapers in western Canada, Washington State and Hawaii. Most of the papers are published one to three times per week. Many have controlled circulation. The largest daily owned prior to the acquisition of the Akron Beacon Journal was the Honolulu (HI) Star-Bulletin. Black Press Ltd. is 80% owned by the David Black family and 20% by Torstar Corporation.