Boone Newsmedia, Inc. (BNI), owners of Leader Publications headquartered in Niles, Michigan, has announced the sale of The Niles Daily Star, Dowagiac Daily News and The Leader to Paxton Media Group, according to John Cribb, Cribb & Associates who represented BNI and the Boone family in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.
“Leader Publications has been an important part of BNI for more than three decades,” BNI Senior Vice President Catherine Boone Hadaway said. “BNI’s founder and my father, Jim Boone, loved visiting the beautiful town of Niles, and took a lot of pride in the weekly newspapers and shopper produced there. We are thankful to our employees, our readers and the communities served for their longstanding support of the paper.
“While the sale is bittersweet, BNI President and CEO Steve Stewart and I are very pleased Jamie Paxton and Paxton Media Group will continue to be the stewards of these community newspapers,” she said. “Paxton has a reputation for taking care of their employees, their franchises and the communities they serve. We could not be more pleased for Leader Publications and its staff. We look forward to many successful years for Paxton in Niles.”
Jamie Paxton, president and CEO of Paxton Media Group, said: “We are very pleased to be selected by the Boone family to assume stewardship for these publications. We believe strongly in the importance of local journalism and intend to build on the award-winning reputation of these newspapers.”
PMG’s group president, David Holgate, added: “Adding Leader publications to our already strong presence in Michiana, clearly shows our commitment to providing news and information in this region.”
The Boone family and Boone Newsmedia, Inc. were represented by John Cribb of Cribb & Associates. C&A is a leading merger and acquisition firm headquartered in Montana.
