The New York Times Co to sell 16 publications to Halifax Media
28 Dec 2011
The New York Times Co yesterday said it will sell its Regional Media Group to Halifax Media Holdings, for $143 million in cash, as the 160 year-old company struggles to cope with declining advertising revenues.
The sale comes a week after the newly created investment group Wrapports LLC proposed acquiring Sun-Times Media Holdings, which includes the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, Chicago-area daily newspapers, weekly newspapers and more than 40 websites. (See: Investment group Wrapports to acquire Chicago Sun-Times Media Holdings)
The Times Co had said last week it was in talks with Halifax to sell 16 publications, including the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California, The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida, and the Star-News in Wilmington, North Carolina (See: New York Times Co in talks to sell 16 regional newspapers).
The publications under the Regional Media Group has a weekday circulation of about 430,000 and accounted for 11 per cent of The Times Co.'s $2.4 billion in annual revenue.
The company said it will record an after-tax gain of $150 million on the sale-expected to close in a few weeks.
The Times Co intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. The company estimates the net after-tax proceeds from the sale will be approximately $150 million.