Thomson Sells Most of Its U.S. Newspapers

Thomson Corp., publisher of the Globe and Mail of Toronto, sold most of its daily U.S. newspapers to Gannett Co. and Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. in a two-part deal worth $1.58 billion in cash. Thomson’s sale largely completed its goal, announced in February, of exiting the U.S. newspaper business to focus on selling professional and financial information services, which already make up the majority of the company’s operations. Arlington, Va.-based Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, is paying $1.125 billion for 21 newspapers in seven clusters in Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin and Utah. Those newspapers have a combined circulation of 466,000. Community Newspapers, a Birmingham, Ala.-based company formed in 1997, bought 17 dailies in Indiana, south Georgia and West Virginia for $455 million. The combined circulation of those papers is 260,000. The sales involved 38 of Thomson’s 49 daily U.S. newspapers, and the Toronto-based company said it expected to announce the sale of the remaining 11 soon. The Thomson deal was announced after stock markets had closed.

Separately, Phoenix-based Central Newspapers Inc. said it was exploring a sale or merger, sending its shares up as much as 72%. The shares closed up $20.50, or 65%, at $52 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company owns the Arizona Republic and the Indianapolis Star among others.