The Dispatch Printing Company to Sell Publishing Assets

The Dispatch Printing Company has entered into an agreement to sell all of its print publications to New Media Investment Group Inc.

The transaction includes the sale of The Columbus Dispatch, a daily newspaper that has served Ohio since 1871, with a current Sunday circulation of 221,548 and a weekday circulation of 137,148 and the company's other print publications including Columbus Monthly, Crave, Capital Style, Columbus CEO and ThisWeek Community Newspapers. The terms of the sale were not disclosed.

John F. Wolfe, chairman and publisher of The Columbus Dispatch, will remain chairman of the board of the company, which will continue to operate WBNS TV in Columbus and WTHR-TV in Indianapolis. The company also will continue its real estate investments through its wholly owned subsidiary, Capitol Square LTD. RadiOhio, Inc., which owns and operates WBNS AM and FM, will continue to be owned by the Wolfe family.

"The Wolfe family's commitment to Columbus remains strong. We intend to remain active and engaged in our city's civic life as we always have been," Wolfe said.

Wolfe and Michael Fiorile, the company's president and chief executive officer, described the sale to New Media as necessary to respond to the ever-accelerating change in the print media environment.

The sale of The Columbus Dispatch to New Media is part of a larger trend in the newspaper business. Several of the largest media companies have split print and broadcast operations into separate business entities. These companies include Gannett, Tribune Publishing, The Washington Post and Scripps Howard.

"We could not be more proud of the journalistic accomplishments by our associates at The Columbus Dispatch. In three of the last four years, The Columbus Dispatch has been named Best Daily Newspaper in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists and has won a wide range of other journalistic awards for excellence," said Fiorile, who will continue as president and CEO of The Dispatch Printing Company.