Livingston, MT – Yellowstone Newspapers which includes 13 daily, twice-weekly and weekly newspapers has been sold to Adams Publishing Group according to John Cribb, Cribb, Cope & Potts who represented Yellowstone Newspapers and the Sullivan family in the sale.
Yellowstone Newspapers publications included in the sale are the Livingston Enterprise, Big Timber Pioneer, Dillon Tribune, Judith Basin Press, Lewistown News-Argus, Stillwater County News, Carbon County News, Laurel Outlook, Big Horn County News, Independent Press, Miles City Star, Terry Tribune, and the Glendive Ranger Review.
The sale will end a 57-year history for the Yellowstone group and John Sullivan, which began in 1965 with the purchase of the Miles City Star, and has grown to include 13 daily, twice-weekly and weekly newspapers and become the state’s largest Montana-owned newspaper group. Also included in the sale were the group’s commercial printing operations.
“After over half a century of shepherding these Montana community papers,’ Sullivan said, “it’s time we turned over their care and feeding to a new outfit, We are confident Mark Adams and his new organization will take good care of our papers and our communities.”
Adams Publishing is a family-owned group founded in 2014, and now owns more than 120 newspapers and more than 220 media-related and associated digital products in 19 states across the country.
“We would like to thank John Sullivan and his team for their fine stewardship of those newspapers over the years,” said Mark Adams. “APG is excited to work with the Yellowstone media operations in Montana. This opportunity is a great strategic fit with our Big Sky region based in Bozeman, and we look forward to providing that region with greater regional and local community journalism as well as a larger advertiser audience.”
The purchase will add to APG’s footprint in the state, which already includes the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and Belgrade News, in addition to a number of specialty products in those communities.
The Yellowstone team adds more than 100 employees to APG’s Big Sky region and additional production capacity for in-house and commercial printing. APG will enhance the digital content for subscribers and offer expanded digital marketing and advertising solutions for local businesses. By consolidating business operations, APG will free up local resources to focus on serving the local communities.
John Cribb, Director, Cribb, Cope & Potts, represented the Sullivan family in their sale. Cribb, Cope & Potts is a leading merger and acquisition firm with offices in Montana, California, and Arkansas.
