Liberty Group Publishing Expands in Illinois

Posted on October 16, 1998

Liberty has acquired Press Publications, a group of 38 weekly and bi-weekly community newspapers serving Chicago's west and southwestern suburbs, based in Elmhurst, Ill. Press newspapers include the Elmhurst Press, Lombard Spectator, Countryside Press, Bartlett Press, Bloomingdale Press, Windmill Herald, Lemont Metropolitan, and the Huntley Farmside. Press Publications was founded in 1896. Its newspapers have a combined circulation of over 100,000 and a strong presence in each of the local communities they serve. John M. (Jack) Cruger will continue as the President and Publisher of Press Publications.

In addition, Liberty purchased the Springfield Shopper, a 30,000 circulation classified shopper in Springfield, Ill.; the Newton Press-Mentor, a bi-weekly paper established in 1860 serving Newton and Jasper counties in Illinois; and the Teutopolis Press, a weekly paper in Teutopolis, Ill.

Kenneth Serota, President and CEO of Liberty said, "We are delighted to add these high quality newspapers to Liberty Group Publishing. We continue to see good opportunities to grow through strategic acquisitions, both by establishing and expanding newspaper clusters. Further, we are delighted to welcome Jack Cruger to our team. Jack has over twenty-five years of suburban community newspaper experience and will be a great asset to Liberty. Liberty now owns 91 publications across the state of Illinois with a combined circulation of over 400,000."