Sep 24, 2021

Hays newspaper acquired by New Jersey-based company

Posted Sep 24, 2021 4:51 PM

Gannett sells off 13 Kansas newspapers in transaction

Dirks, Van Essen & April

CherryRoad Media Inc. announced today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 20 newspapers from Gannett Co., Inc. The newspapers, which include five dailies, are published in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.

Dirks, Van Essen & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Gannett in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

This marks the largest acquisition to date for CherryRoad Media, which entered the newspaper industry in late 2020 with the purchase of the weekly Cook County (Minnesota) News-Herald. It has since acquired four titles in Arkansas, one in Alabama, and started the Rainy Lake Gazette in International Falls, Minnesota, in July. 

CherryRoad Media is a whole owned subsidiary of CherryRoad Technologies, a Parsippany, New Jersey-based technology company that has been in business since 1983. CherryRoad provides complex technical solutions and system integration services to large enterprise customers, particularly state and local government entities. CEO Jeremy Gulban says the company decided late last year to look at the local newspaper industry because they felt there was a need for an infusion of technology from a supportive side as opposed to a competitive side.

“We are very excited to be working with such a talented group of people to serve these communities going forward,” said Jeremy Gulban, CEO of CherryRoad Media and CherryRoad Technologies. “We plan to bring the focus back to local news and to offer additional digital solutions to supplement the printed newspapers. I want to thank the team at Gannett for working with us to find a good home for these important community institutions.”

The newspapers acquired include the following titles:

  1. Pratt (Kansas) Tribune
  2. Kiowa County (Kansas) Signal
  3. Hiawatha (Kansas) Penny Press
  4. Butler County (Kansas) Times-Gazette
  5.  McPherson (Kansas) Sentinel
  6. The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times
  7. Wellington (Kansas) Daily News
  8. Dodge City (Kansas) Daily Globe
  9. Newton (Kansas) Kansan
  10. Garden City (Kansas) Telegram
  11. St. John (Kansas) News
  12. Hays (Kansas) Daily News
  13. Ottawa (Kansas) Herald
  14. Nebraska City (Nebraska) News Press
  15. Syracuse (Nebraska) Journal-Democrat
  16. Hamburg (Iowa) Reporter
  17. Independence (Missouri) Examiner
  18. Chillicothe (Missouri) Constitution-Tribune
  19. Boonville (Missouri) Daily News
  20. Linn County (Missouri) Leader