Bentonville, Ark.-based Community Publishers Inc., the owner of several area newspapers and a printing plant in Springfield, informed customers and employees last week it is seeking a buyer.
In a Nov. 11 letter to customers - provided to Springfield Business Journal this morning - CPI co-founder and CEO Steve Trolinger said the company is searching for qualified buyers, but no contract has been signed.
“After 32 years in business, the owners of CPI have determined that now is the best time to pursue a sale of the company,” Trolinger said in the letter. “We anticipate the sale process could take a number of months to be completed.”
CPI President Mike Brown said this morning the company’s roughly 300 employees are expected to stay on board through the transition.
Founded in 1982 by Trolinger and
Jim Walton - son of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton - the company is divided into the Neighbor News newspaper division and Nowata Printing Co. printing division.
“During this transition period, our Neighbor News and Nowata Printing operations will continue to provide you with the service and value that you have come to expect from CPI,” Trolinger said in the letter.
Neighbor News operates six newspapers in Missouri: Bolivar Herald Free Press, Buffalo Reflex, Christian County Headliner News, Cedar County Republican, Nixa Xpress and The Marshfield Mail. Two others are in Arkansas, with seven in Oklahoma, according to the website.
Nowata operates a printing plant in Springfield’s Partnership Industrial Center, as well as one each in Nowata, Okla., and Harrison, Ark. The local plant prints SBJ’s weekly editions and special products.
A sale price was not included in the letter or a
column about the announcement written by Dave Berry, publisher of the company’s Missouri newspapers.
“There is no urgency. There is no financial hardship. All obligations will be met. It’s just time to be looking for new stewardship,” Berry wrote in the column.
Berry also addressed possible reasons the founders are looking to sell.
“Those two men, meanwhile, are at or beyond retirement age. Even though neither one is likely to retire, both are interested in a change of pace and daily interests,” Berry wrote.[[In-content Ad]]
