New Media acquires Victorville (CA) Daily PressBack to News

New York, NY – March 3, 2014 – New Media Investment Group Inc. ("New Media" or the "Company"; NYSE:NEWM) announced today that it acquired the Victorville (CA) Daily Press along with other publications and related assets from Freedom Communications for a purchase price of $8.0 million. 

The publications are located in and around Victorville, California and include the daily Barstow (CA) Desert Dispatch.  The Daily Press has a daily circulation of 18,000 and the Desert Dispatch has a daily circulation of 2,000.

CAL DVM Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of newspaper merger and acquisition firm Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, represented Freedom Communications in the transaction.

“This is the first acquisition by New Media,” said Mike Reed, chief executive officer of New Media.  “The Victorville Daily Press and related publications meet the criteria we look for in an acquisition, including market size, a solid retail base, the opportunity to leverage New Media’s infrastructure to grow digital revenue and our financial criteria.”

Kirk Davis, chief operating officer of New Media, added, “I am thrilled that the Victorville publications will be part of New Media.  This is a strong local franchise with a long history as the primary source of news and information serving the local communities.  We are excited to work with the Victorville team and look forward to enhancing the partnership they have with their communities.”

About New Media Investment Group Inc.

New Media is focused primarily on investing in a high quality, diversified portfolio of local media assets, and on growing existing advertising and digital marketing businesses.  The Company is one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States as measured by number of daily publications.  The Company operates in 338 markets across 24 states.  New Media’s portfolio of products, which includes 435 community publications, 353 related websites, and six yellow page directories, serves more than 128,000 business advertising accounts and reaches approximately 10 million people on a weekly basis.

For additional information contact Owen Van Essen at 505-820-2700 or owen@dirksvanessen.com.