Acquisitions

Bitterroot Star publishers Michael and Victoria Howell have announced the sale of the Montana newspaper to Jesse and Sasha Mullen of Deer Lodge, Mont. The Howells have owned and operated the newspaper since they started it in 1985. The Mullens currently own and operate two Montana newspapers, the Philipsburg Mail and the Silver State Post in Deer Lodge.

Forum Communications Co. has sold Rivertown Multimedia, which publishes the weekly Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle and weekly Hudson (Wis.) Star-observer newspapers, to O’rourke Media Group. Forum Communications, based in Fargo, Minn., purchased Red Wing Publishing Co.’s Rivertown division in 2001. FCC reorganized the Rivertown group in 2019 to form two publications and the unified rivertowns.net website with the mergers of the Red Wing Republican Eagle and Pierce County Herald and Hudson Star-observer, River Falls Journal and New Richmond News. The sale does not include the Rivertown office and production facility in Red Wing. Dirks, Van Essen & April represented Forum Communications in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

Clint Reilly Communications has acquired the San Francisco Examiner and its affiliated publications, including the SF Weekly, from Black Press LTD. The 155-year-old Examiner joins the Reilly family portfolio after nine years under the ownership of Black Press, publisher of more than 150 titles across the western United States and Canada. The sale includes the Examiner’s intellectual property, as well as its commercial printing facility. Terms were not disclosed. Dirks, Van Essen & April represented Black Press LTD in the transactions. Reilly was represented by the San Francisco firm, Farella Braun + Martell LLP.