The deal nearly doubles Lee's audience size.
Davenport-based Lee is currently in 50 markets. Serving communities in 10
states, BHMG owns the print and digital operations of 30 daily papers, as well
as more than 49 paid weekly publications with digital sites and 32 other print
products.
The
transaction also includes The Buffalo News, which is separately owned by
Berkshire Hathaway.
BHMG’s real
estate (including permanently attached equipment) and cash are excluded from
the acquisition. “On the value of the sale, Buffett took a bath. But BH is
retaining the property, which it will lease to Lee — keeping a solid source of
income. Plus it could sell them later as real estate values appreciate,” wrote Rick Edmonds of Poynter.
“This is a
compelling and transformative transaction for Lee,” said Mary Junck, Lee’s
chairman. “It both refinances our long-term debt on attractive terms and
provides new revenue opportunities as well as operational synergies across an
expanded portfolio.”
In a 2019
interview with Yahoo Finance, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Buffett
expressed doubt about the viability of papers outside of The New York Times,
Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. “They're going to disappear,” he said.
“We had zero
interest in selling the group to anyone else for one simple reason: We believe
that Lee is best positioned to manage through the industry’s challenges,”
Buffett said in a statement on the sale.
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