Gannett Co, the largest newspaper business in the country announced on Monday that it had acquired 11 new organizations including the El Paso Times. The 11 are in Texas, Pennsylvania and New Mexico.
In this deal, Gannett takes 59.35% of the Texas-New Mexico Newspaper Partnership that it did not already have, by assigning its own 19.49% to Digital First in the California Newspapers Partnership and cash.
That gives Gannett ownership of 100% in the Texas-New Mexico business and no ownership in California.
Previously Gannett owned the El Paso Times between 1972 and 2005. It also had controlling interest in the papers in New Mexico between 2003 and 2005. In 2005, Media News Group took over the majority stake in the Texas New Mexico partnership and Gannett retained a small minority share.
Gannett will end the transaction with full ownership in newspapers in New Mexico, Texas and Pennsylvania in its deal with Digital First Media, which in 2013 acquired the properties of MediaNews Group.
In its deal with DFM, Gannett acquired the El Paso Times, the Las Cruces Sun-News, Carlsbad Current, Farmington Daily Times, Alamogordo Daily, Silver City News and Deming Headlight.
Robert Dickey the U.S. Community division president at Gannett said the company was pleased to welcome the well respected organization in media to the fold as the company will further its efforts to expand its reach as the best locale media business in the U.S. for both businesses and consumers.
Dickey added that there was not media company anywhere in the U.S. that knows the local communities better and with huge USA TODAY newspaper, has an outstanding scale of national to local.
