Swift Communications announced Monday it has reached an agreement to sell the Greeley Tribune to MediaNews Group (MNG), the owner and operator of one of the largest newspaper businesses in the U.S.
“With this
change, the Greeley Tribune, its staff and the community will benefit from the
many resources that MNG has in the region, as well as benefiting the long term
interests of both companies,” said Bill Waters, Chairman and CEO, Swift
Communications, Inc.
The sale will
take effect March 1 at 12:01 p.m.
“The Greeley
Tribune has an incredible history and we look forward to supporting the
publication with our team of seasoned newspaper executives,” said Al Manzi,
President of Prairie Mountain Media. “Our goals are simple: to run sustainable
newspapers so they will be around to serve their local communities well into
the future.”
MNG is one of
the largest owners and operators of newspapers in the United States by
circulation, with approximately 200 publications including The Denver Post, the
Loveland Reporter-Herald, the Longmont Times-Call, and the Boulder Daily
Camera.
The sale does
not include The Fence Post Company, which is an independent Swift
Communications company that includes The Fence Post weekly agriculture
newspaper based in Greeley, the Tri-State Livestock News weekly newspaper and
Farmer-Rancher Exchange based in South Dakota, Acres USA, a magazine, event and
book publishing company based in Greeley, and Countryside Publications with
offices in Medford, Wisc.
Swift
Communications’ Colorado newspapers include The Summit Daily News in Frisco,
The Vail Daily in Vail, The Steamboat Springs Pilot & Today in Steamboat,
The Aspen Times, The Glenwood Springs Post Independent and the Sky-Hi News in
Granby. Swift also operates newspapers in Park City, Utah, and in Grass
Valley, Calif. as well as commercial print operations in Gypsum, Colo. and
Carson City, Nev.
Founded in
1870 by Nathan Meeker, the Greeley Tribune was purchased in 1977 by Swift
Communications. The Greeley Tribune publishes four days a week, and its
website, http://www.greeleytribune.com,
serves over 400,000 unique visitors monthly.