New York publishing group buys several Pa. publications

Beaver County Times among those purchased

The Beaver County Times is part of a group of publications being acquired by New Media Investment Group, parent of Gate House Media.

The New York publishing group announced plans to pay $17.5 million to Calkins Media for The Beaver County Times, Ellwood City Ledger, The Bucks County Courier-Times, The Intelligencer (Doylestown), the Burlington County (New Jersey) Times, as well as the operations of the Calkins Digital Group, a press facility and all related websites.

According to the announcement Monday, the deal is expected to close within 30 days. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Calkins Media is an 80-year-old, family owned media company based in Bucks County.

In a separate announcement, Calkins said it agreed to sell The Uniontown Herald-Standard, the weekly Greene County Messenger and SWC Properties, a real estate firm, to Ogden Newspapers based in Wheeling, W.Va.

Mark Contreras, Calkins’ chief executive, said the company believes its businesses “could best thrive in a company with broader resources and reach.”

New Media’s holdings are focused in small- to mid-sized markets. The company has 130 daily publications and more than 500 websites.

Ogden Newspapers operates more than 40 daily newspapers and other publications across the country. Robert Nutting, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Seven Springs Resort, is Ogden’s chief executive.

According to the New Media announcement, The Beaver County Times has a weekday circulation of 18,000 and 24,000 on Sundays.