Journal Register Company to Sell Midwest Newspaper Properties

Posted on March 1, 2000

Journal Register Company has announced that it intends to sell its Ohio, Missouri and Illinois newspaper assets. Making the announcement Journal Register Company Chairman, President and CEO Robert M. Jelenic said, ``The sale of our Midwest properties will increase our financial flexibility and enable us to further realize shareholder value.''

The Ohio properties, four seven-day daily newspapers with total daily circulation of 125,825 and Sunday circulation of 140,532, include The News-Herald (Lake County), The Morning Journal (Lorain), The Times Reporter (Dover-New Philadelphia) and The Independent (Massillon). The Missouri and Illinois properties include the Suburban Newspapers of Greater St. Louis, the largest weekly newspaper group in the United States with non-daily distribution of approximately 1.7 million, and The Telegraph (Alton, IL), a seven-day daily newspaper with daily circulation of 28,048 and Sunday circulation of 30,110.

``Journal Register Company's management team has demonstrated its ability to run profitable high-quality newspapers,'' continued Jelenic. ``These are excellent operations with extremely talented and dedicated employees.''

Journal Register Company has retained Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette to represent the Company in the sale of its Ohio properties and Dirks, Van Essen & Murray to represent the Company in the sale of its properties located in Missouri and Illinois.