Postmedia Network sells collection of BC newspapers
By Adnews Staff
Postmedia Network of Toronto has reached an agreement with Glacier Media to sell British Columbia daily newspapers the Times Colonist, Nanaimo Daily News and Alberni Valley Times, as well as its 20 community newspaper properties in the province. The deal is worth $86.5 million, the net proceeds of which will be used for debt repayment. The deal does not include the Vancouver Sun, The Vancouver Province or Postmedia's Windsor-Essex community newspapers. "We are pleased to announce a transaction that realizes the value of the community newspaper groups in western Canada along with the Times Colonist, a newspaper with a proud 153-year history," said Paul Godfrey, Postmedia president and CEO. "The transaction allows us to pay down debt and focus on our core properties, the ongoing transformation of our organization and growth areas of our business. Postmedia's business strategy for fiscal 2012 is transformation and revenue development. As we look ahead, our success will be in finding new opportunities for growth while transforming our organization to meet the very real changes in our industry. We remain committed to our digital first focus now and into the future."