SACRAMENTO, Calif., FORT WAYNE, Ind. and WHEELING, W.Va, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The McClatchy Co. (NYSE:MNI) today announced a definitive agreement to sell The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, IN, to the Ogden Newspapers. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed at the buyer's request. The purchase covers The News-Sentinel, a 75% stake in the Fort Wayne Joint Operating Agency (JOA) and certain publications and web sites related to the newspapers. The News-Sentinel is currently owned by Knight-Ridder, Inc., which McClatchy has agreed to acquire. The parties intend to close the transaction as soon as possible after the close of McClatchy's Knight Ridder acquisition, which is expected this summer.
Ogden Newspapers, a private family-owned company headquartered in Wheeling, WV, publishes 39 daily newspapers, as well as related web sites, telephone directories, weekly newspapers, shoppers, and magazines in 15 states.
"Each of the papers identified for divestiture has received a tremendous amount of interest from a large variety of bidders, and the Fort Wayne JOA and The News-Sentinel was no exception," said McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt. "This announcement is another milestone in what has been a series of very successful agreements -- we couldn't be happier."
"We're very pleased to have been selected by McClatchy to continue the tradition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning News-Sentinel, " said Ogden Newspapers CEO Robert M. Nutting. "As a family company, we're especially pleased to be associated in the Fort Wayne JOA with another long-standing newspaper family. The Inskeep family and the Fort Wayne newspapers are obviously cornerstones of northeast Indiana and we're proud to become partners in this venture. Here in the Ohio Valley where my great-grandfather started his first newspaper we publish one morning and two separate afternoon papers -- so we know and understand the benefits of the dynamic of a community served by multiple newspaper voices."
About The McClatchy Company
The McClatchy Company, headquartered in Sacramento, CA, is a leading newspaper and internet publisher. It publishes 12 daily and 16 non-daily newspapers located in western coastal states, North and South Carolina, and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. McClatchy has daily circulation of 1.4 million and Sunday circulation of 1.8 million. McClatchy's newspapers include, among others, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee and The Modesto Bee in California, The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), the Anchorage Daily News and Vida en el Valle, a bilingual Spanish weekly newspaper distributed throughout California's Central Valley. McClatchy also operates leading local websites in each of its daily newspaper markets, offering readers information, comprehensive news, advertising, e-commerce and other services, and owns and operates McClatchy Interactive, an interactive operation that provides websites with content, publishing tools and software development. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (MNI).
About Ogden Newspapers
Ogden Newspapers, a private family-owned multi-media company headquartered in Wheeling, WV, publishes 39 daily newspapers in ten states including eight daily newspapers in Ohio and seven in West Virginia. Ogden has daily circulation of 500,000. Ogden's newspapers include, among others, The Intelligencer (Wheeling, WV), Wheeling News-Register, Tribune-Chronicle (Warren, OH), Altoona Mirror (PA), and The Maui News (HI). Ogden operates leading local websites in each of its daily newspaper markets. Ogden publishes numerous weeklies and shoppers in these same markets. Ogden publishes and distributes more than 3,000,000 telephone directories in 53 editions in six states. In addition Ogden publishes regional and national magazines including Mother Earth News.
Ogden Newspapers traces its history to the founding of the Wheeling News by H.C. Ogden in 1890. Today the company is owned and run by his descendents the Nutting family.
Background to the transaction
On March 13, 2006, The McClatchy Company announced a definitive agreement under which McClatchy will acquire Knight-Ridder, Inc. Knight Ridder publishes 32 daily newspapers in 29 U.S. markets, with a circulation of 3.4 million daily and 4.5 million Sunday. Knight Ridder has websites in all of its markets and a variety of investments in internet and technology companies, publishes a growing portfolio of targeted publications and maintains investments in two newsprint companies. Knight Ridder's internet operation develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities (www.RealCities.com), the largest national network of city and regional websites in more than 110 U.S. markets.
As part of that announcement, McClatchy said it planned to sell 11 of the acquired newspapers that do not fit with the company's longstanding operating strategies and acquisition criteria, and to sell the St. Paul Pioneer Press due to anticipated anti-trust concerns involving McClatchy's (Minneapolis) Star Tribune.
After McClatchy's planned divestitures and the close of the Knight Ridder acquisition, The McClatchy Company will become the nation's second-largest newspaper company measured by daily circulation (approximately 3.2 million), with 32 daily newspapers and approximately 50 non-dailies. The expanded McClatchy will own leading newspapers in many of the fastest-growing markets nationwide, with an enhanced portfolio of Internet assets. The transaction is subject to customary terms and conditions, including approval by the Knight Ridder shareholders and is expected to close this summer.
On April 26, 2006, the McClatchy Company announced a definitive agreement with MediaNews Group, Inc. (MediaNews) and The Hearst Corporation (Hearst) under which the companies will pay McClatchy $1.0 billion in cash to acquire four newspapers. MediaNews will purchase two northern California papers, the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, and Hearst will acquire the Monterey (CA) Herald, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota.
On May 23, 2006, McClatchy announced a definitive agreement to sell Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. (PNI) to Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC (PMH) in a transaction valued at $562 million. The purchase covers the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, both daily newspapers, and related media assets including philly.com.
Separately McClatchy announced today definitive agreements to sell the Akron Beacon Journal to Sound Publishing Holdings, Inc., the Duluth News Tribune and the Grand Forks Herald to Forum Communications Company and the (Aberdeen) American News to Schurz Communications Inc.