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overview
This page looks at GateHouse Media Inc (formerly Liberty
Group Publishing) and Purcell - minor US publishers -
and the Boston Herald.
It covers -
GateHouse
GateHouse Media Inc results from the 2005 acquisition
by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC of
Liberty Group Publishing. Liberty was rebadged as GateHouse,
with an IPO in 2006. At that time it announced its net
income in 1995 would have been a US$14.8 million loss
on revenue of US$384.5 million, with a net loss of US$11.7
million in the first six months of 2006 on revenue of
US$194.4 million.
Following acquisition by Fortress LGP acquired New West
Newspapers, including the daily Nebraska City News
Press and the non-daiy Syracuse (Nebraska) Journal-Democrat,
Hamburg (Iowa) Reporter, Ripley (W. Va.) Star-News,
two Penny Press shoppers and a weekend publication.
In 2006 LGP announced that it would pay US$175 million
for Enterprise NewsMedia, a competitor controlled by a
private equity firm Heritage Partners Inc. (which bought
a majority stake for U$113 million in 2003).
At the same time Liberty was reported to have acquired
Patrick J. Purcell's suburban newspaper holdings (Community
Newspaper Co.) for an estimated US$225 million.
In 2007 GateHouse agreed to buy the Norwich Bulletin
in Connecticut, Rockford Register Star in Illinois,
Observer-Dispatch in Utica and Herald-Dispatch
in Huntington from Gannett for
US$410 million.
Liberty Group Publishing
Liberty Group Publishing (LGP) emerged in 1997 when Leonard
Green & Partners, L.P. paid over US$310 million for
160 minor US newspaper titles from Hollinger
International, at that time controlled by Conrad Black.
Leonard Green, tagged by Business Week as "The
Bottom-Fisher King of Retail", had made a fortune
buying troubled retailers such as the Thrifty drugstore
chain and the Payless division of Kmart, turning them
around and then then selling them or taking them public.
Green partners are reported to have provided US$60 million
(for 90% of LGP), with the remainder of the US$310 million
coming from junk bonds and bank loans. 10% of LGP equity
was divided among senior management, headed by Kenneth
Serota, a former Hollinger International vice president.
LGP went on to acquire further 'small-market' titles across
the US, publishing some 270 small dailies, weeklies, and
shoppers in 16 states in 2006. An attempted Initial Public
Offering in 2003 was aborted, with LGP being offered for
sale in August 2004 amid reports that it was heavily leveraged
through US$360 million debt after acquiring 325 newspapers
in 15 states. That supposedly meant it was paying US$60
million per year in interest.
The group was not related to Liberty Media Corporation
(here), a spin-off from AT&T.
holdings
LGP titles included -
Suburban Chicago Newspapers
• Addison Press
• Batavia Republican
• Berwyn Life
• Carol Stream Press
• Cicero Life
• Downers Grove Reporter
• Elmhurst Press
• Huntley Farmside
• Geneva Republican
• Glen Ellyn News
• Lemont Reporter
• Lisle Reporter
• Lombard Spectator
• Naperville Reporter
• Bensenville Press
• Bloomingdale Press
• Bolingbrook Reporter
• Roselle Press
• St Charles Republican
• Suburban Life
• Villa Park Argus
• Warrenville Post
• West Chicago Press
• Westchester Suburban Life
• Western Springs Suburban Life
• Westmont Progress
• Wheaton Leader
• Winfield Press
• Woodridge Progress
Arizona
• Arizona Silver Belt
• Moccasin
• Gila County Advantage
Arkansas
• Stuttgart Daily Leader
• Helena Daily World
• Stuttgart Greenback
• Helena Tribune
• Newport Daily
• Stuttgart Daily Leader
• Cleburne County Sun
• Newport News
• Heber Springs/The Sun Times
California
• Taft Daily Midway
• Siskiyou Daily News
• Supersaver Advertiser
• Taft Westside Shopping
• Siskiyou Daily News Shopper
• Gridley Shopping News
• Voice of the Mountain
• Gridley Herald
• Dunsmuir News
• Mount Shasta
• Weed Press
Idaho
• Burley South Idaho Press
• Burley News Review
• Minidoka County
• Gooding County Leader
• Lincoln County Journal
• North Side News
• Wood River Journal
Illinois
• Benton Evening News
• Canton Daily Ledger
• The Carmi Times
• DuQuoin Evening Call
• Flora Daily Advocate
• Eldorado Daily Journal
• Harrisburg Daily Register
• Kewanee Star Courier
• Macomb Journal
• Marion Daily Republican
• Monmouth Daily Review Atlas
• Olney Daily Mail
• Pekin Times
• Pontiac Daily Leader
• West Frankfort Daily
• Town Crier Advertiser
• American Monday
• Fulton County Shopper
• Spoon River Advertiser
• White County Shopper
• Flora CCAP Special
• Franklin Press
• Fulton County Shopper
• Galatia Money Stretcher
• Henry County Advertiser
• McDonough County
• Monmouth Pennysaver
• Livingston Shopping
• Spoon River Advertiser
• Springfield Shopper
• DuQuoin/Perry County
• Dwight Star Regional
• Franklin Press
• Geneseo Shopper
• Kewanee Star Extra
• Macomb Journal Extra
• Williamson County Extra
• Olney Advantage
• Aledo Times Record
• Ashley News
• Cambridge Chronicle
• Carmi WeeklyTmes
• Chester Herald Tribune
• Christopher Progress
• Courier Press
• Dwight Star & Herald
• Fairbury Blade
• Flanagan Home Times
• Gallatin Democrat
• Gardner Chronicle
• Geneseo Republic
• Herrin Spokesman
• Kewanee
• Murphysboro American
• Newton Press-Mentor
• Norris City Banner
• Olney Weekly Mail
• Oquawka Current
• Orion Gazette
• Ridgeway News
• Teutopolis Press
• The Paper
Iowa
• Charles City Press
• Charles City Press Extra
• Six County Shopper
• Cresco The Extra
• Eldora Hardin County
• New Hampton Advertiser
• CrescoTimes Plain
• Eldora Herald-Ledger
• New Hampton Tribune
Kansas
• Augusta Daily Gazette
• Derby Daily Reporter
• El Dorado Times
• Kansas City Kansan
• Leavenworth Times
• McPherson Sentinel
• Pratt Tribune
• Wellington Daily News
• Derby Record Herald
• Wichita Journal
• Barber County Index
• Kiowa County Signal
• St. Johns News
• Shawnee Journal
• Derby Weekly Shopper
• El Dorado Shopper
• Wyandott County
• Lansing Chronicle
• Leavenworth Chronicle
• South County Chronicle
• McPherson Sentinel
• McPherson Shopper
• Wellington Daily News Etc.
• Pratt Sunflower Shopper
Louisiana
• Bastrup Daily Express
• Beauregard Daily News
• DeRidder Daily News
• Leesville Daily Leader
• Sulpher Southwest Daily
• lowa News
• Mossblutt News
• Vinton News
• Westlake News
• Placquemine Post South
• Pierre Part Cajun Gazette
• Ascension Citizen
• Donaldsonville Chief
• Donaldsonville Bayou
• Ascension Nickel Ads
• Sulphur Guardian
• Bastrup Daily Express
• Gonzales Star Watch
• Placquemine West Bank
• Beauregard Daily News
• Leesville Daily Leader
• Sulpher Southwest Daily
• Westlake News Shopper
Michigan
• Adrian Daily Telegram
• Cheboygan DailyTribune
• Coldwater Daily Reporter
• lonia Sentinel-Standard
• Sault Ste. Marie Evening
• Sturgis Journal
• Vicksburg Broadcast
• Sturgis Gateway Shopper
• Tri-CountyBuyers Guide
• lonia Sentinel-Standard
• Colon Express
• Coldwater Shoppers
• Shoppers Fair
• Access Shopper
• Bronson Journal
• Jonesville Independent
• Union City
• Vicksburg Commercial
• Adrian Medley
• Coldwater Reporter Extra
• Sturgis Weekender
Minnesota
• Crookston Daily Times
• Wabasso Standard
• St. James Plaindealer
• Sleepy Eye Herald
• Redwood Falls Gazette
• Montevideo American
• Granite Falls Advocate
• Cottonwood Tri-County
• Crookston Valley
• Halstad Shopper
• St. James Town
• Sleepy Eye Reminder
• Redwood Falls Livewire
• Monte Video Star Adviser
Missouri
• Boonville Daily News
• Brookfield Daily News
• Camdenton Lake Sun
• Carthage Press
• Chillicothe Constitution
• Kirksville Daily Express
• Macon Chronicle-Herald
• Maryville DailyForum
• Mexico Ledger
• Moberly Index
• Neosho DailyNews
• Rolla Daily News
• Waynesville Daily Guide
• Greenfield Vedette
• Miller Press
• Marceline Press
• St. James Leader Journal
• Big Nickel
• DailyGuide Extra
• Fort Wood Constitution
• Vacation News
• Maryville Gentry County
• Marceline Show Me
• Macon Journal
• Kirksville Crier
• LakeStocton Shopper
• Camdenton Pennysaver
• Albany Gentry County
• Boonville Record
• Southwest MO Scope
• Chillicothe CT Xtra
• Maryville Penny Press
• Mexico Ledger
• Neosho Neighborhood
• Rolla Daily News Plus
Nevada
• Elko Daily Free Press
New York
• Herkimer Evening
• Hornell Evening Tribune
• Little Falls Evening Times
• Oswego Palladium Times
• Wellsville Reporter
• Genessee Country
• Hornell Spectator
• Penn Yan
• Saugertias Post Star
• Syracuse Business
• Steuben Courier
• Canisteo Penn-E-Saver
• Dansville-Wayland
• Geneseeway Shopper
• Mohawk Valler
• Horseheads Shopper
• Liberty Catskill Shopper
• Corning-Elmira
• Penn Yan Chronicle
• Mountain Pennysaver
• Saugerties Pennysaver
• Allegany Pennysaver
• Herkimer Images
• Tribune Extra
• Little Falls Time-Saver
• Oswego Palladium Times
North Dakota
• Devils Lake Daily Journal
Pennsylvania
• The Wayne Independent
• Lewisburg Daily Journal
• Milton Daily Standard
• Sayre EveningTimes
• Waynesboro Record
• Carbondale News
• Moscow Villager
• Waynesboro Record
• Sayre EveningTimes
• Milton Standard-Journal
• Wayne Independent
West Virginia
• Keyser Mineral Daily
• Keyser Mountain Echo
• Keyser Today’s Shopper
Wisconsin
• Clintonville
Purcell
Patrick Purcell's Community Newspaper Co. encompassed
some 100 weeklies and dailies west and north of Boston
as of April 2006, with a combined daily and weekly circulation
of around 600,000. The two major titles were the Patriot
Ledger and Brockton Enterprise, with a combined
average daily circulation of 90,000.
Purcell acquired the Boston tabloid Herald (formerly
the Boston Herald American) in a 1994 leveraged
buyout from Rupert Murdoch's News
Corporation. Purcell was a News executive at that time;
sale reflected ownership restrictions under US broadcasting
rules.
In 2001 he acquired Community Newspaper Co from Fidelity
Investments, the funds management behemoth, for a reported
US$150 million. Fidelity had built the company by aggregating
several suburban publishers.
the Boston Herald
The Herald traces its origins to the Daily
Advertiser founded by Nathan Hale in 1813 and the
Boston Herald, founded in 1846. Echoing declarations
of principle then and since, the 1846 Herald proclaimed
that it would be
independent
in politics and religion; liberal, industrious, enterprising,
critically concerned with literacy and dramatic matters,
and diligent in its mission to report and analyze the
news, local and global.
In
1861 it spawned the Sunday Herald, acquiring
the Boston Traveler (founded in 1825 as a bulletin
for stagecoach listings) in 1912. In 1967 the Herald
merged with the Traveler as the Boston Herald
Traveler.
In 1840 the Daily Advertiser absorbed five older
Boston titles, including the Independent Chronicle
(established in 1768), and in 1884 launched the Boston
Afternoon Record. William Randolph Hearst
founded The American in Boston in 1904, acquiring
the Daily Advertiser in 1917 and the Afternoon
Record in 1921. By 1938 they had been rebadged as
the Evening American, Daily Record and
Sunday Advertiser. During 1961 the Record
was folded into the American as the Record
American, an "all day newspaper". In 1964
the Sunday Advertiser became a tabloid in format,
belatedly reflecting its editorial style.
During 1972 the Herald Traveler was acquired
by Hearst Corporation and merged with the Record American
as the Record American Herald Traveler, subsequently
the Boston Herald American and a tabloid from
September 1981. During the following year it was acquired
by News Corporation and rebadged as the Boston Herald.
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