Paxton Media Group has acquired the Cleveland (Tennessee) Daily Banner, the Herald-Citizen (Cookeville, Tennessee), The Daily Tribune News (Cartersville, Georgia), The Chatsworth (Georgia) Times and the Daily Mountain Eagle (Jasper, Alabama).
The operations had been owned by Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. and Cookeville Newspapers, Inc. for more than 65 and 47 years, respectively. Through those years, Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. owned and operated daily newspapers in 10 states.
Dirks, Van Essen & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Cleveland Newspapers and Cookeville Newspapers in the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The 168-year-old Cleveland Daily Banner, 119-year-old Herald-Citizen, 75-year-old Daily Tribune News and 150-year-old Daily Mountain Eagle all publish five days per week online and three days per week in print. The Chatsworth Times publishes weekly. Other publications in the group include Walker Magazine, 385 Magazine, Bradley Essential and Discover Bartow.
Paxton Media Group, a family-owned media company headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky, is managed by fourth- and fifth-generation Paxton family members. The company owns more than 100 newspapers across the Midwest and Southeast.
"We are excited to add these newspapers into the PMG portfolio,” said Jamie Paxton, Paxton Media Group president and CEO. “PMG believes strongly in the value of local newspapers and the vital role they play in the communities that they serve. We appreciate being chosen to be the new stewards of these important community assets."
