Hyperlocal news network Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.
The sale comes as the company wraps up its creditor protection process in the B.C. Supreme Court and its related U.S. proceedings.
The ownership group include Canadian institutional investors Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight Capital Management, as well as local media company Carpenter Media Group.
Sound Publishing intends to continue serving as the go-to source for local news — online and in print — by operating its 43 local news publications and various customer solutions services within the U.S. The media company employs roughly 1,200 employees between its Canadian and U.S. divisions.
“We are dedicated to serving communities with the best hyperlocal journalism, available 24/7 and produced by passionate journalists living in those communities,” said Glenn Rogers, chief executive officer of Black Press, parent company of Sound Publishing. “With our strong financial position and the support of our new ownership group, our readers and advertisers can count on us to continue delivering the quality journalism and advertising solutions that we are known for.”
Carpenter Media Group, formerly Carpenter Newsmedia, operates leading community news publications in southern United States, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky.
Carpenter publishes titles such as the Bowling Green Daily News in Kentucky and the Port Arthur News in Texas.
“Carpenter and our fellow new owners resolutely support the vital role that effective journalists, newspapers and digital news organizations play in strong communities, and we are committed to ensuring our publications continue to play that essential part in the communities we serve,” Todd Carpenter, chairman of Carpenter Media Group, said on behalf of the new owners.
Founded in 1987, Sound Publishing Inc. is the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska. Black Press Media’s print audience reaches more than 4.5 million readers across Canada and the U.S., and publishes 150 daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and websites. Readership across the network exceeds 19 million users per month.
Sound Publishing’s King County newspapers are the Federal Way Mirror, Kent Reporter, Renton Reporter, Auburn Reporter, Mercer Island Reporter, Snoqualmie Valley Record, Enumclaw Courier-Herald, Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, Bellevue Reporter, Kirkland Reporter, Issaquah Reporter, Redmond Reporter, Bothell-Kenmore Reporter and Seattle Weekly.
