Management Group to Buy OC Weekly Owner

Stern Publishing, which owns the Village Voice in New York City along with other alternative newspapers that include the OC Weekly, said Wednesday that the company is being bought by a management group led by its president.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The new company will be called Village Voice Media.

Stern said the management group is composed of President David Schneiderman; affiliates of Weiss, Peck & Greer LLC, a New York investment management firm; Trimaran Fund II LLC, a private equity fund associated with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; and other investors.

Schneiderman, who will be an investor in the new company, will be chief executive. Closing is expected in February.

The new company will initially consist of eight free weekly alternative newspapers. Besides the OC Weekly and the Voice, they include the LA Weekly, the Seattle Weekly, City Pages in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the Cleveland Free Times and the Long Island Voice.

The Nashville Scene, recently acquired by affiliates of Weiss, Peck, will be included in the new group. The new company will have annual revenue of about $90 million, with a combined circulation of 900,000.