Black Press, Ltd. is slated to purchase the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim This Week and its related websites, owned by Horvitz Newspapers LLC, the two companies announced Monday.
And on Tuesday, the owner of the Sequim-based Olympic View Publishing Co. announced the sale of his company — which publishes the Sequim Gazette and the Forks Forum — to Black Press, a privately held firm based in Victoria, B.C.
The new additions to Black Press will be operated by Sound Publishing, a division of Black Press and the largest community newspaper group in the Northwest. The Beachcomber is a part of Sound Publishing.
All told, Sound produces 46 publications, with a combined circulation of 732,700. Sound’s corporate office is based in Poulsbo, and it has a printing facility in Everett.
Sound titles include The Bainbridge Island Review, The North Kitsap Herald, The Central Kitsap Reporter, The Port Orchard Independent, The Bremerton Patriot, The Journal of the San Juan Islands, The Islands’ Sounder, The Whidbey News-Times, The South Whidbey Record, Kitsap Navy News and The Whidbey Crosswind.
Sound also publishes community newspapers in east and south King County, and Portland, Ore.
Black Press, Ltd. owns about 150 publications, including three daily newspapers, the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, the (Honolulu) Star Advertiser and the Advocate (Red Deer, Alberta). The other publications are in suburban or rural markets throughout the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
David Black, president of Black Press, Ltd., said in a news release that the acquisitions make sense for the regionally focused company.
“We have purchased other titles from Horvitz Newspapers in the past and look forward to adding the Peninsula Daily News and its related titles to our Sound group. As publishers of other titles in the area, this acquisition is a natural extension to our marketplace footprint. We are pleased to be doing business in Clallam and Jefferson counties,” he said.
The family-owned Hor-vitz Newspapers, based in Bellevue, purchased the Peninsula Daily News from Persis Corp. in 1994.
“Our family has enjoyed owning the Peninsula Daily News for 17 years, and we’re very proud of its employees and their commitment to serving the news and information needs of the Clallam and Jefferson County communities and the quality journalism they provide,” said Peter Horvitz, president of Horvitz Newspapers. “We’re delighted that Black Press has chosen to add the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim This Week to its family of Pacific Northwest publications.”
Olympic View Publishing, owned and operated by Sequim resident Brown M. Maloney for more than 23 years, said in a news release that he was letting go of his publications “with mixed emotions.”
But, he added, “There is a sense of pride in what my staff has achieved over the past two decades. I am pleased to see Olympic View Publishing pass into the hands of Sound Publishing, who are as passionate about newspapers and committed to community journalism as I have been since 1988.”
OVP also publishes two real estate magazines, one based on the North Olympic Peninsula and the other in the San Juan Islands.
