By Greg Hazley
Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to pay $142M in cash for 63 newspapers owned by Media General, the Richmond, Va.-based media company, although MG’s Tampa Tribune is not part of the deal.
Berkshire’s BH Media Group will also provide a $400M loan and $45M credit line for the media company to pay bank debt, in exchange for share warrants and a director slot.
“In towns and cities where there is a strong sense of community, there is no more important institution than the local paper,” said Warren Buffett, chairman of BH. “The many locales served by the newspapers we are acquiring fall firmly in this mold and we are delighted they have found a permanent home with Berkshire Hathaway.”
BH takes control of 63 daily and weekly papers in Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Winston-Salem Journal, as well as their websites, digital versions and commercial printing business.
Media General said it expects to enter into a deal with one of several prospective buyers for its Tampa print properties, mainly the Trib.
“These newspapers are great institutions and powerful brands in their respective markets,” said Terry Kroeger, president of BH Media Group, which owns the Omaha World-Herald Company.
MG CEO Marshall Morton said the company will be focusing on its TV business and growth in digital and mobile. It owns several network affiliates, including eight NBC, eight CBS and one each of ABC and CW.
The BH deal is slated to close on June 25.
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