Raycom, CNHI announce merger

[LanceyHoward]

Has any progress been made on the sale of the CNHI chain? Have any papers been sold to neighboring chains? Has CNHI closed any more papers beyond the two they closed in downstate Illinois?

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Roll Tide, I guess

CNHI sold to Alabama Retirement Systems

 

[LanceyHoward]

Roll Tide, I guess

CNHI sold to Alabama Retirement Systems

I am reading this in the European Union and hence the link is blocked due to idiotic EU data protection laws.

But I thought CNHI was already controlled by the Alabama Retirement System (ARS). ARS was trying to get out of the media business and had sold their Raycom chain of television stations and was trying to sell the newspapers. So I guess they could not find a buyer. I would have thought this chain would been something Gatehouse would have snapped up. Who knows?

I do wonder if CNNHI, which closed two dailies n Illinois alst year, will clsoe any more papers now, given that ad revenues continue to tank.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Alabama sold the newspapers to Raycom, but Raycoms pending merger with Gray required them to get rid of the papers.

Whats not clear, and I cant find any reporting on, was if there were other bids for CNHI besides Bama, if they may have been deemed too low, or if Raycom facilitated a sale back to Bama in order to be quick and get the Gray deal back on track, which I believe was in a holding pattern until CNHIs papers had new owners.

I dont imagine its a significant enough deal that any financial pubs will be digging in and shedding light

 

[Kato]

I believe the ARS financed CNHI (and Raycom, too, I think ... hence the merger) but didn't own the chain. Now, apparently, ARS will actually own CNHI. Not sure what that means for the business model going forward.