Lee Enterprises Completes Acquisition of Pulitzer Inc.
June 03 2005 - 10:46AM
Business Wire
Newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE),
announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Pulitzer
Inc. (NYSE:PTZ) in a transaction valued at about $1.46 billion.
Plans for the acquisition were announced Jan. 30. The transaction
expands Lee by 14 daily newspapers, including the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, and more than 100 non-daily publications. Lee
becomes the fourth largest U.S. newspaper publisher in terms of
dailies owned and seventh largest in circulation, growing from 44
to 58 daily newspapers in 23 states, with new total circulation of
1.7 million daily and 2.0 million Sunday. Lee also grows to more
than 300 weekly newspapers, shoppers and specialty publications. On
the basis of calendar 2004 results, Lee's revenue will rise by more
than $440 million, to $1.14 billion. The closing followed a vote of
Pulitzer Inc. stockholders approving the transaction, in which
Pulitzer Inc. became an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Lee.
Pulitzer Inc. stockholders will receive $64 in cash for each share
of Common Stock or Class B Common Stock. Mary Junck, Lee chairman
and chief executive officer, said: "This is a terrific acquisition
that extends Lee into more growth markets with quality newspapers
staffed by talented people. We're excited about our new
opportunities and we're already on our way toward a smooth, quick
transition, thanks to great help from Pulitzer publishers and
executives, particularly Bob Woodworth," referring to Robert C.
Woodworth, president and chief executive officer of Pulitzer. She
described the acquisition as a continuation of Lee's long-term
strategies, noting that it is similar in order of magnitude to
Lee's acquisition of Howard Publications Inc. and its 16 newspapers
in 2002. At that time, Lee grew by about 50 percent in revenue and
75 percent in circulation. The Pulitzer acquisition will increase
Lee's size by about 60 percent in revenue and 50 percent in
circulation. In the combined company, Pulitzer will represent about
39 percent of the revenue and 34 percent of the daily circulation.
Junck said Lee will apply its five top operating priorities at the
new newspapers, focusing on revenue growth, readership and
circulation, strong local news, online strength and careful cost
controls. Pulitzer daily newspapers, in addition to the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, are the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz.; The
Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.; The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah; the
Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, Calif.; The Napa Valley Register,
Napa, Calif.; The World, Coos Bay, Ore.; The Sentinel, Hanford,
Calif.; the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz.; the Daily
Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.; The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii; the
Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.; The Lompoc Record, Lompoc, Calif.;
and The Daily News, Rhinelander, Wis. Pulitzer's 100-plus non-daily
publications include the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, a
group of 38 weekly newspapers and niche publications with
distribution of more than one million copies a week. Pulitzer
operations also include leading online sites in all of its markets,
including STLtoday.com in St. Louis and azstarnet.com in Tucson.
With the addition of about 4,000 people from Pulitzer, Lee's roster
of employees rises to 10,700. Among other aspects of the
acquisition, Lee gains a small minority stake in the St. Louis
Cardinals major league baseball team. Lee is based in Davenport,
Iowa, and its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol LEE. More information about Lee Enterprises is available
at www.lee.net. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 provides a "Safe Harbor" for forward-looking statements. This
release contains information that may be deemed forward-looking and
that is based largely on the Company's current expectations and is
subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Among
such risks, trends and other uncertainties are changes in
advertising demand, newsprint prices, interest rates, labor costs,
legislative and regulatory rulings and other results of operations
or financial conditions, difficulties in integration of acquired
businesses or maintaining employee and customer relationships and
increased capital and other costs. The words "may," "will,"
"would," "could," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends,"
"plans," "projects," "considers" and similar expressions generally
identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are
made as of the date of this release. The Company does not publicly
undertake to update or revise its forward-looking statements.
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