THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210992
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: 26 lines
Thomson Corp. and Cox Enterprises Inc. said Tuesday they are swapping six Cox daily newspapers in Arizona for two Thomson dailies in North Carolina and an undisclosed amount of cash.
The North Carolina newspapers being acquired by Cox are The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City and the Rocky Mount Telegram, which have a combined circulation of about 28,000. Atlanta-based Cox has 19 daily newspapers and 15 weeklies in addition to its cable television and radio operations. It also has interests in direct-mail marketing, book publishing and online services.
The deal is part of Thomson's strategy to build marketing businesses, such as advertising publications and databases, around newspaper operations in new markets.
The Arizona newspapers going to Thomson are The Yuma Daily Sun and the suburban Phoenix Tribune Newspapers that serve Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Scottsdale. They have a combined circulation of more than 100,000.
Thomson, based in Toronto, publishes 103 dailies, as well as nondailies and advertising publications, in the United States and Canada. by CNB