A company owned by Alabama’s public pension fund is selling 10 newspapers in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi to a rapidly expanding publisher.
On Thursday, Carpenter Media Group announced its acquisition of the newspapers from CNHI.
The price was not revealed.
CNHI is selling several newspapers, including three in Alabama: The News Courier of Athens, The Cullman Times, and the St. Clair News-Aegis. Additionally, The Meridian Star in Mississippi and five newspapers in Georgia – the Dalton Daily Citizen, The Union-Recorder of Milledgeville, the Valdosta Daily Times, The Moultrie Observer, and The Tifton Gazette – are also up for sale.
Carpenter Media Group is a company that is based in Natchez, Mississippi, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It gained its independence just last year when Chairman Todd Carpenter decided to split the newspapers he owned from those owned by Boone Newsmedia. Prior to this, both Boone and Carpenter had worked together in managing their newspapers.
Earlier this year, Carpenter Media, supported by Canadian investment firms Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight, acquired over 150 newspapers, magazines, and websites that were previously owned by Black Press Media of Surrey, British Columbia. These newspapers included numerous operations across western Canada, as well as the Star-Advertiser in Honolulu, Hawaii, and newspapers in Alaska and Washington. Black Press Media had previously filed for financial restructuring in Canada, citing liabilities of $195 million Canadian dollars that exceeded its assets.
