By: The Associated Press and E&P Staff The employee-owned Omaha World-Herald Co. has bought The Grand Island Independent and the York News-Times from GateHouse Media Inc.
The deal gives the World-Herald 10 daily newspapers in Nebraska and Iowa, including the flagship Omaha World-Herald, and 23 nondaily papers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed when the deal was announced Thursday.
World-Herald President and Chief Executive Terry Kroeger says no immediate changes are planned at either the Grand Island or York papers.
Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse had owned the two newspapers only since last fall when it bought 14 daily papers from Morris Communication Co.
The World-Herald says Grand Island has a 20,500 circulation and York has a 4,700 circulation.
Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, the newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented GateHouse Media in the transaction.
Mike Reed, Chief Executive Officer of GateHouse Media, commented in a statement, "While we are constantly evaluating investment opportunities in the local media sector and continue to have a very strong pipeline of future opportunities, we did not see the Grand Island operation as a good strategic or geographic fit and felt we could redeploy the capital more effectively elsewhere. I am delighted to announce the sale of these publications to the Omaha World-Herald Company which has a significant and venerable presence in Nebraska.?
?We are so pleased to have the opportunity to own these two newspapers, both of which have done such an outstanding job of serving their markets,? said Terry Kroeger, president and CEO of the Omaha World-Herald Co. in a statement. ?We look forward to working with Don Smith, the publisher in Grand Island, and Greg Awtry, the publisher in York, toward continuing to build these news and advertising content franchises into the future.?
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