Sale of Black Press completed; to remain Canadian-controlled
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The newspaper company which owns the Nelson Star will remain a Canadian-controlled news network, after it was announced Black Press Media completed its sale.
On Monday (March 25) the sale was announced — to the ownership group including Canadian institutional investors Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight Capital Management, as well as media company Carpenter Media Group — and that it will remain Canadian-controlled, with its head office based in Surrey.
The sale also signifies the end of the creditor protection process in the B.C. Supreme Court, and its related U.S. proceedings. The largest non-daily newspaper publisher of newspapers in B.C. had entered creditor protection (see previous story) under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) — a statute of the Parliament of Canada that allows insolvent corporations owing creditors in excess of $5 million to restructure their business and financial affairs — on Jan. 15.
The announcement of the sale — which includes the Nelson Star, Castlegar News, Trail Times, Rossland News and Grand Forks Gazette — did not confirm or deny any publication closures or employee layoffs, noting it would instead “put the company on solid and sustainable financial footing, enabling it to continue to serve its” readers over the long term.
The media company employs roughly 1,200 employees between its Canadian and U.S. divisions.
“Black Press is dedicated to serving communities with the best … journalism, available 24/7 and produced by passionate journalists living in those communities,” said Glenn Rogers, chief executive officer of Black Press.
Carpenter Media Group, formerly Carpenter Newsmedia, operates leading community news publications in the southern United States, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky.
Carpenter publishes titles such as the Bowling Green Daily News in Kentucky and the Port Arthur News in Texas.
At its height, the company extended across Canada and the United States and published 150 daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and websites.
