Freedom to Buy 3 Arizona Newspapers
Freedom Communications Inc. said it will acquire Thomson Corp.’s newspapers in Arizona, including three dailies: the Tribune of suburban Phoenix, the Daily News-Sun of Sun City and the Yuma Daily Sun.
The deal announced Thursday takes Thomson another step closer to its goal of leaving the U.S. newspaper business to focus on selling professional and financial information services. Neither company disclosed the sale price.
It was the second sale in two days involving Arizona newspapers. On Wednesday, Gannett Co. announced it would acquire Central Newspapers Inc., parent company of the Arizona Republic, the Indianapolis Star and four other daily newspapers, for $2.6 billion.
The centerpiece of the Thomson deal is the Tribune, which competes with the Republic, the state’s largest newspaper, in the booming suburbs southeast of Phoenix and in the affluent suburb of Scottsdale. Its editions carry the nameplates East Valley Tribune and Scottsdale Tribune.
Freedom Communications, based in Irvine, publishes the Orange County Register, 24 other daily newspapers and 37 weekly publications.
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