Townsend Communications Agrees to Sell Newspaper Division to News-Press & Gazette CompanyBack to News

KANSAS CITY, MO, July 22, 2004 – Townsend Communications, Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri has reached an agreement to sell its newspaper division to News-Press & Gazette Co. of St. Joseph, MO., according to officers of both companies. The sale is expected to close by the end of August.

The newspapers being sold include twice-weekly Liberty Tribune and Dispatch-Tribune of Clay/Platte counties, as well as the weekly Raytown Tribune and The Wednesday circulating in South Kansas City. The four publications have combined non-daily circulation of approximately 87,600.

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

News-Press & Gazette Co., whose principal publication is the St. Joseph (MO) News-Press, owns several other area newspapers, including the Atchison (KS) Daily Globe and the Hiawatha (KS) World, as well as the weeklies in Kearney and Smithville, MO.

David R. Bradley, News-Press president, said the company looked forward to continuing the solid franchise that Townsend has built in its communities over the last 40 years.

“We believe these newspapers have strong potential to help their areas build a great future,” Mr. Bradley said. “We would like the papers to become an even better advocate for the success of their communities. Readers will see a more intensely local focus.”

H. Guyon Townsend, president of Townsend Communications, said that he felt that the new owners have the resources to provide more services to the suburban communities where the papers circulate. “They bring solid newspaper publishing experience to the table,” Townsend added. “This will be an exciting time for the newspaper division and the Northland.”

News-Press, which has been principally owned by the Bradley family for more than 50 years, also operates cable television systems in the St. Joseph area and in several communities in Arizona and California. It owns television and radio stations in Texas, California and Oregon.

For further information contact James Oldershaw at Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, (phone) 505-820-2700 or (fax) 505-820-2900.