Carpenter Media Group (CMG) and Phillips Media Group (PMG) announced today they have reached an agreement for CMG to acquire PMG’s 16 community newspapers spread across Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois, as well as Nowata Printing Company in Springfield, Mo.
Dirks, Van Essen & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, N.M., represented Phillips Media Group in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.
The titles acquired include the Quincy (Ill.) Herald Whig, Baxter (Ark.) Bulletin, Harrison (Ark.) Daily Times, Newton County (Ark.) Times, Big Nickel, Bolivar Herald-Free Press, Buffalo Reflex, Cedar County Republican, Christian County Headliner News, Kirksville Daily Express, The Marshfield Mail, NEMO Trader, Sedalia Democrat, Warrensburg Star-Journal, The West Plains Daily Quill, and the Hannibal Courier Post.
“It has been a pleasure to own and operate these great publications,” said Rupert Phillips, PMG’s president and CEO. “Their future will be in good hands with Carpenter Media Group, a company focused on continuing the tradition of providing a quality newspaper for their local communities.”
CMG is organized and driven to serve and develop communities through excellent local journalism, guiding the marketing and advertising of its small and medium-sized business customers and developing its team members to grow personally and professionally.
“We feel fortunate to succeed Rupert Phillips and his team in these communities with these newspapers that are so important to each one,” said Todd Carpenter, chairman of CMG. “To work with a group like this is a pleasure and privilege because of the quality of the company, the people and the good foundations they put down.”
Prior to chairing CMG, Carpenter was a longtime CEO and director of Boone Newsmedia, Inc. (BNI), which, including CMG’s holdings along with its own, managed 85 newspaper titles, various magazines, websites and other businesses in 12 states. After separating CMG holdings last year from BNI and recent acquisitions, CMG now owns and manages over 250 titles in the U.S. and Canada.
For more information on Carpenter Media Group: www.carpentermediagroup.com.
For more information on Phillips Media Group: www.phillipsmedia.com.
For more information on Dirks, Van Essen and April: www.dirksvanessen.com.
To learn more about the local impact of the acquisition, see the Publisher’s Desk column on Page A10 of Saturday’s Quill.
