Newspaper & Mailroom

Cox Enterprises to Sell The Daily Sentinel and The Nickel (Grand Junction, Colo.) to Grand Junction Media, Inc.

Thursday 16. July 2009 - Cox Enterprises, Inc. announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to sell The Daily Sentinel and The Nickel (Grand Junction, Colo.) to Grand Junction Media, Inc., which is owned by Seaton Publishing Co. The transaction is expected to close in the upcoming weeks.

“Cox greatly values the contributions made by The Daily Sentinel, The Nickel and their employees,” said Doug Franklin, executive vice president, Cox Newspapers. “Seaton Publishing has nearly two centuries of experience publishing newspapers and serving advertisers. Under its leadership, we are confident that The Daily Sentinel and The Nickel will continue to be vital within Grand Junction.”

The executive team at The Daily Sentinel will remain in place. Jay Seaton, executive vice president of Grand Junction Media, will join that team and move to Grand Junction. The Daily Sentinel is the largest daily newspaper between Denver and Salt Lake City and is consistently recognized as one of Colorado’s best mid-sized newspapers.

“Grand Junction Media has a strong commitment to community journalism,” said Ned Seaton, president of Grand Junction Media. “These papers make a significant contribution to Grand Junction, and we are looking forward to working with the employees that make it possible.”

As announced in 2008, Cox Enterprises continues to market for sale its newspapers in North Carolina and Texas. Cox recently sold The Lufkin Daily News and The Daily Sentinel (Nacogdoches, Texas). Citigroup and Dirks, Van Essen & Murray have been retained to assist Cox Enterprises with the marketing of these assets.