That was quick: Gatehouse sells Hunt. (W.Va) Herald-Dispatch

I post this because Gatehouse just bought the paper in April.
Isn't this Champion's first newspaper?



Champion to buy Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) ä Gatehouse Media is selling The Herald-Dispatch to Champion Industries, Inc., for $77 million.
The companies announced the deal announced Thursday. It is expected to close before the end of August, Gatehouse Media said.
Fairmont, N.Y.-based Gatehouse, which has 87 daily publications, acquired The Herald-Dispatch from Gannett Co. in April, along with three other newspapers.
The Huntington newspaper has a daily circulation of about 28,000 and a Sunday circulation of 33,000.
Gatehouse Chief Executive Officer Mike Reed said the company did not see The Herald-Dispatch as a good fit either strategically or geographically.
"It was always our intention when we recently acquired several properties from Gannett to dispose of the Huntington Herald Dispatch, and I am delighted to announce the sale of this venerable publication to Champion Industries, a company with a strong presence and history in the local market," Reed said in a news release.
Huntington-based Champion Industries, a commercial printing and business furniture supplier, operates businesses in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee and West Virginia.
"The Herald-Dispatch is a premier institution in West Virginia and the entire tri-state area. We believe this opportunity will generate numerous expansion and growth opportunities," Marshall T. Reynolds, Champion's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
Reynolds said Champion believes a locally owned newspaper will provide benefits to both the community and shareholders.
The sale is subject to regulatory approval.
Gatehouseás shares fell 53 cents, or 2.77 percent, to $18.57 on Thursday. Championás shares rose 7 cents, or 0.99 percent, to $7.15.

 

I thought that seemed like a very high price for a newspaper that size. My recollection is a decade ago, the average formula for a sale price was 10 times yearly net revenue or one times yearly gross or $1,000 per subscriber, more if the paper was in a growing area, less if it was in a declining area. The really odd thing was that when I Googled to try to check my memory, I stumbled upon this Time magazine article from 1953 that said, "newspapers in general are making fat profits, anywhere from 6% to 15% after taxes." If only we were still willing to settle for what used to be "fat profits," we could spend the money to make the product more appealing.

http://205.188.238.109/time/magazine/article/0,9171,818841,00.html

 

Years ago when I worked for Thompson, I was told our paper's average profit margin was about 21%.

 

Good find, Frank.