Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505180020
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RALEIGH, N.C. - A century of family ownership at The News & Observer of Raleigh will end in August when the newspaper is sold to McClatchy Newspapers Inc. in a deal worth about $373 million.
``You want to be in a position that if you decide you want to sell something, you can sell it on your terms,'' Frank Daniels Jr., president and publisher of The News and Observer Publishing Co., said Wednesday.
Daniels, who previously said he would retire when he reaches 65 in a year and a half, said he will remain as publisher and that his retirement would depend upon the wishes of his new boss. Daniels also is chairman of the board of directors of The Associated Press. McClatchy's offer, agreed upon Tuesday afternoon and final Aug. 1, includes about $250 million to buy shares from the private company's 36 family and 37 employee stockholders and assumption of $123 million in debt. Some of the debt was incurred for plant expansion and the installation of new presses, which still is under way.
McClatchy is publicly held and based in Sacramento, Calif., where it publishes The Sacramento Bee. In all, the company publishes 12 daily newspapers and eight non-daily newspapers on the West Coast and in South Carolina.
The News & Observer, owned by the Daniels family since Josephus Daniels bought it at a bankruptcy auction in 1894, has a circulation of about 153,000 daily and 200,000 on Sunday. Also included in the purchase are six non-daily newspapers, Business North Carolina magazine, Benson Print Co. and NandO.net, an online information service providing access to the Internet.
Publisher Frank Daniels Jr. said McClatchy shared his company's vision of the future and had the capital to invest to help make the vision a reality.
``Looking 10 or 12 years down the road, we do not see any scenario that keeps The News and Observer in the Daniels family,'' he said. ``To keep up with a growing community requires capital, but our access to capital is limited.''
McClatchy earned $46.6 million on sales of $471.4 million in 1994. The News and Observer Publishing Co.'s total revenues in 1995 are projected to be $118 million, compared with $107 million in 1994, and come primarily from The News & Observer.
- Associated Press
USAir offering premium service
USAir said Wednesday it will begin offering its new Business Select premium service on one daily round trip between Roanoke and its hub at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
The service, to begin June 11, features cabin service with roomier seats, complimentary beer and wine, priority check-in and baggage handling and designated overhead storage space. Designed for short flights of approximately two hours, the service now is available on nearly 200 daily flights from 21 East Coast cities. This is the first time Business Select will be available on any flights from Roanoke.
- Staff report
Roanoke Cement project continues
Botetourt County issued a building permit Wednesday for a second phase of construction at Roanoke Cement, which is modernizing its kilns.
The permit is for work valued at $6 million. The first phase of construction dealt with foundation work, according to company and government officials.
During the $37 million project, which began in March, a kiln installed in the 1970s will be upgraded to do the work of four higher-polluting 1950s-era kilns, which will be shut down. Two new 25,000-ton silos for an intermediate material in the cement-making process will replace a less-efficient storage building.
- Staff report
by CNB