Press Release | Cribb, Greene and Cope
The Loudoun Times-Mirror, a weekly newspaper based in Leesburg, Va., has acquired the assets of the weekly newspapers
Leesburg Today and
Ashburn Today and the
LeesburgToday.com website. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Leesburg Today was founded in 1988 by publisher Brett Phillips and a group of local investors. In 2006, Dallas-based American Community Newspapers purchased the company, then sold it in 2012 to Texas-based HPR-Hemlock LLC, which operates locally as Northern Virginia Media Services
Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented HPR in the sale.
Cribb, Greene and Cope represented
The Loudoun Time-Mirror in the sale.
“We’ve received a warm welcome from the people of Leesburg and Loudoun County and our employees from the time of our purchase in 2012, and we have appreciated the kindness,” said Bruce Potter, chief operating officer of Northern Virginia Media Services. “Our goal has been to provide a quality newspaper to local residents and also to provide good jobs to talented people. Selling
Leesburg Today to the
Times-Mirror seemed to us to be the best for the future of the news business and for the community.”
Northern Virginia Media Services owns and will continue to operate its other properties in the region, which include six other weekly newspapers: the
Arlington Sun Gazette; the
Sun Gazette serving the Great Falls, McLean, Oakton, Tysons and Vienna areas of Fairfax County;
Prince William Today; the
Stafford County Sun; the
Belvoir Eagle; and the
Quantico Sentry. The company also publishes the monthly newspaper
Middleburg Life;
Washington FAMILY Magazine; and a regional news website,
InsideNoVa.com.
Loudoun Times-Mirror is owned and operated by local resident Peter Arundel, who has served as president and CEO of the company since 1996. The
Times-Mirror traces its roots to 1855 with the founding of the
Loudoun Mirror.
Peter Arundel’s father, Arthur (Nick) Arundel, purchased the
Loudoun Times-Mirror in 1963. After the passing of his father in 2012, Peter Arundel purchased the company from his family. The media company, Virginia News Group, has been under Arundel family ownership for 52 years.
“This is a watershed moment in the history of our company,” said Arundel. “We regard local news as a public trust and remain deeply committed to Loudoun readers and advertisers.”
The
Times-Mirror plans to expand coverage of Leesburg and is extending job offers to several
Leesburg Today employees.
The
Loudoun Times-Mirror was ranked “Best Large Weekly in the State” by the Virginia Press Association in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Virginia News Group also publishes the
Fauquier Times, Prince William Times and
Gainesville Times.
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