Toronto-based Postmedia (PNC.A) is buying all the daily and weekly newspapers owned by the Irving family in New Brunswick for $16.1 million in cash and stock.
Postmedia said in a news release that it has reached an agreement to buy all outstanding shares of Brunswick News, which is part of J.D. Irving Ltd., for $7.5 million in cash and $8.6 million in Postmedia shares at an implied price of $2.10 per variable voting share.
The proposed deal marks the end of an era for the Irving empire, which has been involved in newspapers in New Brunswick for more than 80 years.
Newspapers were once a lucrative business for the Irving family. They were vertically integrated within Irving’s pulp and paper operations and generated strong subscription and advertising revenues.
However, the Irving family’s dominance of the media landscape in the province has sparked criticism for decades.
The sale signals J.D. Irving’s exit from the media business, said Jim Irving, co-CEO of J.D. Irving Ltd., in a media statement.
Andrew MacLeod, President of Postmedia, said the acquisition will give the company a national reach from coast-to-coast.
Irving’s stable of daily newspapers in New Brunswick includes the Telegraph-Journal in Saint John, the Times and Transcript in Moncton, and The Daily Gleaner in Fredericton.
The Irving family also owns the Miramichi Leader, Woodstock Bugle-Observer, Bathurst Northern Light, Kings County Record, Campbellton Tribune and The Victoria Star, which covers the Grand Falls area of western New Brunswick.
The proposed deal also includes the acquisition of Irving’s digital properties and parcel delivery business. Postmedia already owns 120 brands across multiple print, online and mobile platforms.