Berkshire Hathaway Closes Acquisition of 63 Media General Newspapers

-- World Media Enterprises, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway, closed a deal to buy 63 newspapers from Media General, including the Florence Morning News.

The deal, valued at $142 million, subject to adjustment for working capital and other items, closed on June 25, 2012.

Media General, Inc. announced that it has entered into discussions with potential buyers for its Tampa, FL, print properties and associated websites.

"Selling our newspapers represents a monumental change for us -- we've been in the newspaper business for more than 160 years. However, our model has been shifting more toward Broadcast and Digital in recent years," said Marshall N. Morton, president and CEO of Media General.

"We will now focus on our higher margin Broadcast television business. We have an attractive economic model, fueled by revenue growth, including Political, Retransmission and Digital revenues. For the second quarter of 2012, we expect to report Political revenues of more than $7 million, reflecting spending by both presidential campaigns, Super PACs, and contested races in our markets, including the Massachusetts Senate race and primaries in Virginia and South Carolina. We now expect Political revenues for the full year 2012 to be at the high end of our previously announced range of $40-45 million," said Morton.

Go to the Florence Morning News newspaper profile for more information about the newspaper.

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