Surrey/Fraser Valley/Victoria (with files from Cision Newswire, Black Press) – On Monday January 15, The Black Family announced that David Black, president and majority owner of Black Press, is retiring after a long and distinguished career leading the company.
Black Press is seeking a sale to new ownership as part of a corporate restructuring transaction.
The ownership group would include Canadian institutional investors Canso Investment Counsel, Deans Knight Capital Management and Carpenter Media Group.
As part of the restructuring, the company filed for creditor protection in the B.C. Supreme Court and intends to seek recognition of such proceeding in the United States, in Delaware. The company said it intends to continue operating its publications during the restructuring process.
Carpenter Media Group, formerly Carpenter Newsmedia, operates leading community news publications in southern United States, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky.
Carpenter publishes titles such as the Bowling Green Daily News in Kentucky and the Port Arthur News in Texas.
Black Press Media intends to continue to operate its 80-plus local news publications both in print and on line. In the Valley , that includes the Abbotsford News, Chilliwack Progress, Hope Standard, Mission City Record, Agassiz Harrison Observer and others.
The Black family is confident that the restructuring of Black Press announced today will be successful and enable Black Press to continue to provide high quality community journalism, and that the proposed new owners will be excellent stewards of Black Press’ treasured publications.
Announcement of Black’s retirement is here.
Announcement of Black Press restructuring is here.
Over the years, the Canadian newspaper industry has been hit hard with falling revenue due to new media, COVID and a changing landscape in media advertising.
