Agreement reached for sale of Peninsula Daily News
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — An agreement has been reached for the sale of the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim This Week and its related web sites by Horvitz Newspapers, LLC, to Black Press, Ltd. of Victoria, British Columbia, whose Sound Publishing, Inc. division is the largest community newspaper group in the Pacific Northwest.
Today’s announcement was made personally to Peninsula Daily News employees by Peter Horvitz, president of Horvitz Newspapers, LLC, based in Bellevue, Wash., and Mark Warner of Black Press, Ltd., owners of Sound Publishing based in Poulsbo, Wash.
Peninsula Daily News will be operated by Sound Publishing, which has 46 publications and a combined circulation of 732,700 in the Pacific Northwest.
Sound’s publications are found in Kitsap, Skagit, Snohomish and Pierce counties, San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island, Vashon Island, communities in east and south King County, and Portland, Ore. Sound’s corporate office is based in Poulsbo, and it has a printing facility in Everett.
Privately-held Black Press, Ltd. owns about 150 publications, including three daily newspapers, the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, (Honolulu) Star Advertiser and the Advocate (Red Deer, Alberta). The other publications are in suburban or rural markets throughout the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Peninsula Daily News is published Sunday through Friday and has an average circulation of more than 16,000. Sequim This Week is the Peninsula Daily News’ free weekly newspaper for the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, distributed to more than 11,000 households.
David Black, president of Black Press, Ltd., said:
“We have purchased other titles from Horvitz Newspapers in the past and look forward to adding the Peninsula Daily News and its related titles to our Sound group. As publishers of other titles in the area, this acquisition is a natural extension to our marketplace footprint. We are pleased to be doing business in Clallam and Jefferson counties.”
The family-owned Horvitz Newspapers purchased the Peninsula Daily News from Persis Corporation in 1994.
“Our family has enjoyed owning the Peninsula Daily News for 17 years, and we’re very proud of its employees and their commitment to serving the news and information needs of the Clallam and Jefferson County communities and the quality journalism they provide,” said Peter Horvitz.
“We’re delighted that Black Press has chosen to add the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim This Week to its family of Pacific Northwest publications.”