Copley says it may sell papers in Ohio, Illinois

Copley Press Inc., parent company of the San Diego Union-Tribune, announced Tuesday that it was exploring possible sales, mergers or other alternatives for its seven newspapers in Ohio and Illinois.

Copley’s Illinois newspapers are published in Springfield, Lincoln, Peoria and Galesburg. In Ohio, the company’s newspapers are in Canton, Massillon and Dover/New Philadelphia.

Copley is a privately held company based in La Jolla, where it publishes the Union-Tribune, the 21st largest daily newspaper, which it will retain.

“The newspaper business has been very good to my family and me for over a century,” Copley Chief Executive David C. Copley said in a statement.

“The flagship remains San Diego and the moves we are announcing secure our ability to keep the San Diego Union-Tribune as an independent, locally owned newspaper for many years into the future.”

Harold W. Fuson Jr., senior vice president and chief legal officer of Copley, said no timetable had been set for getting bids and making decisions regarding the Illinois and Ohio papers.

“There is no urgency associated with getting this done,” he said.

In June, the company said it would sell its Copley Los Angeles Newspapers group, which includes the Torrance Daily Breeze, the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and the Beach Reporter. No deal has been announced.

“The process is continuing there, and we expect to complete it,” Fuson said.

The company said the decisions had been affected by a combination of a contraction in the newspaper business and debt from taxes related to the 2004 death of Helen K. Copley, David Copley’s mother.

Copley’s Ohio papers are the Repository of Canton, the Independent of Massillon and the Times-Reporter of New Philadelphia.

Its Illinois papers are the Journal Star of Peoria, the Register-Mail of Galesburg, the State Journal-Register of Springfield and the Courier of Lincoln.

“It has to be disappointing to our employees that an outstanding owner like the Copley Press would decide to sell its Midwestern newspaper holdings,” said David J. Greenfield, publisher of the Repository and president of Copley Ohio Newspapers.

“But the newspaper business is changing with astounding speed, and our revenue base is not what it used to be,” he said.