Las Vegas Review-Journal parent company to buy Columbus Dispatch
New Media Investment Group Inc., the parent company of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said Wednesday that it will buy the publishing operations and assets of The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.
The move makes the Columbus Dispatch the national media company’s largest-circulation daily newspaper, displacing the Review-Journal.
The deal includes the Dispatch, with daily and Sunday circulation of more than 130,000 and 235,000, respectively; ThisWeek Newspapers, a collection of 24 suburban weeklies; seven magazines, including Columbus Monthly, Columbus CEO and Capital Style; and printing and office facilities associated with the publications.
The Dispatch has been owned by the Wolfe family of Columbus for more than a century. Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
New Media Investment Group (NYSE: NEWM) is a New York-based holding company that emerged from the bankruptcy of GateHouse Media Inc. in 2013. The company controls 126 dailies among its 550 publications in 32 states. New Media also operates a national network of advertising and digital marketing businesses.
In March, New Media closed on the $102.5 million cash purchase of substantial assets of Stephens Media LLC., which included eight daily papers and 65 weekly publications in seven states.
In addition to the Review-Journal, with a Sunday circulation of 184,000, New Media in Nevada owns the Pahrump Valley Times, the Tonopah Times-Bonanza, the Boulder City Review, El Tiempo, Luxury Magazine, the View newspapers and the Las Vegas Business Press.
