Gold Mountain California News Media Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire 11 California titles from Brehm Communications. Six of the titles are located outside of Sacramento and the other five are in the San Bernadino Mountains and neighboring high desert region.
Dirks, Van Essen & April, through its subsidiary CAL DVM, is representing BCI in the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The northern California cluster includes six tightly clustered titles within Placer and Sacramento County’s Gold Country region. The newspapers include the twice-weekly Auburn Journal, and the following weeklies: Folsom Telegraph, Roseville Press-Tribune, Placer Herald, The Loomis News and Lincoln News Messenger.
The group in the southern part of the state includes six weekly newspapers. The Big Bear Grizzly and Mountain News cover the resort and second home communities adjacent to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. The other titles in the group, The Hi-Desert Star, The Desert Trail and The Desert Mobile Home News, serve residents of the Coachella Valley in the high desert just to the north of Palm Springs.
The new owners have newspaper assets throughout the United States and Canada, including several in California. These titles include the Marysville (California) Appeal-Democrat and the Lodi (California) News-Sentinel, as well as the recently acquired Grass Valley Union. Grass Valley is located less than 25 miles from Auburn.
“We are pleased to acquire these esteemed properties from the Brehm Communications family,” said Steven Malkowich of Gold Mountain. “Our plans are to continue with the well-established fine tradition which the family has been recognized for in their long and continuous history in the newspaper industry.”
“This transaction is bittersweet as our family has been in the newspaper business for over 102 years, however we felt it was time to pass these amazing publications and employees to a new home,” said Ryan Schuyler, president and CEO of BCI. “We believe the new owners will carry on the important mission of community journalism for years to come.”
