Phillips Media Group, LLC to Acquire Arkansas and Missouri NewspapersBack to News

HARRISON, AR – March 2, 2015 – Phillips Media Group, LLC announced today that it has aquired the Arkansas and Missouri newspapers and Missouri and Oklahoma commercial printing operations of Community Publishers, Inc. (CPI) of Bentonville, AR.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico is representing CPI in the sale.

“We are very excited to be returning to the newspaper markets in Arkansas and Missouri where our family has a long history of running hometown newspapers that mean so much to their communities,” said Ryan Phillips, chief executive officer of Phillips Media Group. “We look forward to continuing their tradition of producing high-quality publications that make a difference to the residents of this area.”

The Phillips family and their companies have been involved in the newspaper business since the 1970s, having owned newspapers in Mountain Home, Yellville, Berryville and Eureka Springs, AR, and Nevada, Marshall and Maryville, MO.

Phillips Media Group’s president and chief operations officer, Jim Holland, comes to the company from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, where he has been publisher of the Star-Herald for the past 10 years. Holland started his newspaper career at the Mountain Echo in Yellville, Arkansas and has published newspapers in Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri and Kansas.

“My wife and I both grew up in Arkansas and are both very excited to be moving back to the area.” Holland said. “I look forward to my involvement with this group of high-quality newspapers and the people who produce them.”

Publications included in the purchase are the Harrison Daily Times and Newton County Times in Arkansas, as well as the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, the Buffalo Reflex, the Cedar County Republican, the Christian County Headliner, the Marshfield Mail and the Nixa Xpress in Missouri. PMG will also purchase the Nowata West commercial print operation in Nowata, OK, and the Nowata East commercial printing operation in Springfield, MO.

CPI’s publications have received dozens of awards from the Missouri Press Association and the Arkansas Press Association for excellence in community journalism for their news, business, education, sports and investigative reporting and editorial writing. They have also received awards for their advertising programs and design.

Steve Trolinger, CEO said, "Community Publishers has had the privilege for 33 years of publishing newspapers in great communities with talented and dedicated associates. CPI is pleased that the Phillips Media Group recognizes the quality of our publishing and printing efforts in these communities and will continue this tradition into the future."

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