ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 31, 1990                   TAG: 9003310250
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ENQUIRER SETS DEAL FOR THE STAR

The National Enquirer and The Star, two of the country's largest-circulation weekly supermarket tabloids, will be owned by the same company if a $400 million deal struck Thursday is completed and approved.

The News Corp. agreed to sell The Star, with a circulation of 3.5 million, to GP Group Inc., which publishes The National Enquirer, circulation 4.5 million, and The Weekly World News, whose circulation is 600,000.

An announcement by both companies Thursday said the publications would remain independent of each other.

The Enquirer and Weekly News are published in Lantana, Fla.

The Star is published in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Under the agreement, GP would pay "at least $400 million," the announcement said, half in cash, the other half in preferred stock. The companies hope to complete the deal by the end of June.

It may require some government approval, the announcement said.

- The New York Times 


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