Wick Communications to Acquire Flagstaff’s Arizona Daily Sun from Lee EnterprisesBack to News

Sierra Vista-based Wick Communications will acquire the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff in a move that strengthens the company’s holdings in Arizona.

The company is acquiring the Daily Sun from Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, Inc.

Dirks, Van Essen & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is representing Lee Enterprises in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

Wick Communications, a third-generation family owned and operated media corporation, owns 21 newspaper titles throughout 10 Western states from Alaska to Louisiana. Wick owns seven newspapers in Arizona and holds half ownership in four others in the state as a partner in River City Newspapers.

The announcement was made Tuesday in Flagstaff by Wick CEO Francis Wick, a fourth-generation Arizonian, and Daily Sun Publisher Colleen Brady.

“The Daily Sun and the Flagstaff community represent some of the best qualities of Arizona. We’re honored to be carrying on the strong legacy of this important community institution in the state we call home,” Wick said.

Brady will remain publisher, and all employees of the Daily Sun have been offered positions with Wick Communications.

“We are very excited about joining the Wick Communications team,” said Brady. “This will give us the ability to continue to invest in more local news for our readers and offer media solutions to our advertisers.”

The Arizona Daily Sun, the largest newspaper in Northern Arizona, originated in 1883 under the name Arizona Champion in Peach Springs. It was moved to Flagstaff in 1891 as the Coconino Sun and was renamed Arizona Daily Sun in 1946.

The Daily Sun was part of Scripps League Newspapers until 1996, when the company was purchased by Pulitzer. Lee Enterprises acquired Pulitzer in 2005.

Today the publication reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month through its website, apps, newsletters, and specialty publications.