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Star Tribune Acquires City Pages
MINNEAPOLIS – May 6, 2015 – Star Tribune Media Co., Minnesota’s largest news organization, today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire City Pages, the state’s largest alternative news and entertainment brand, from Voice Media Group in Denver, Colo. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The planned acquisition of City Pages by Star Tribune is in keeping with its position as the leading provider of local news and information to consumers as well as the most effective source of marketing solutions for advertisers through print and digital channels and event promotions. It is the first acquisition by the Star Tribune since the company was purchased by Glen Taylor in June 2014.
Reaching hundreds of thousands of unique readers in print and online, City Pages is the acclaimed newsweekly and website covering local news, music, arts, and dining in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. City Pages will keep its independent news voice along with its current publication schedule and distribution strategy. It will also retain its separate newsroom and advertising sales team. Following the acquisition, Star Tribune will retire its Vita.mn arts and entertainment weekly, but popular features and events may continue under the City Pages or Star Tribune banners.
“We are excited to welcome City Pages to the Star Tribune Media Company and add another successful media property to our organization,” said Mike Klingensmith, publisher and CEO. “And we’re happy to preserve this unique voice for alternative news and entertainment. We have tremendous respect for the loyal, passionate audience and market position that the talented City Pages staff has built through hard work over many years. We think the publication and its digital properties can capitalize on being part of a larger, local media company to create an even stronger City Pages. We look forward to collaborating with our new colleagues to create compelling ways for advertisers to reach an attractive demographic of discriminating readers and entertainment-seekers.”
“We are very happy to have Star Tribune Media Company as our new owners, which we believe will allow us to expand our efforts in both print and digital channels,” said Mary Erickson, publisher of City Pages. “We think the combination creates compelling and complementary benefits to readers and advertisers—and it will be great to have local ownership once again.”
About Star Tribune Media Company
Star Tribune Media Company LLC is a locally owned, award-winning media company serving Minnesota and the upper Midwest. With the seventh-largest Sunday and 12th-largest daily circulation newspaper in the U.S., the most-visited local website, a range of home-delivered advertising solutions, and a popular arts/entertainment publication and mobile app, Star Tribune reaches more consumers than any other Minnesota media brand. www.startribunecompany.com
Media contact:
Steve Yaeger
612-673-4256 (office)
651-357-3036 (mobile)
steve.yaeger@startribune.com
