VillageSoup completes acquisitions
The parent company of Rockland-based VillageSoup on Monday completed the acquisition of six weekly newspapers in Maine from Courier Publications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crescent Publishing Co. LLC of Greenville, S.C.
Village NetMedia Inc., which publishes the VillageSoup news websites and papers for Knox and Waldo counties, purchased weekly and tri-weekly papers in Rockland, Camden, Belfast, Bar Harbor and Augusta, according to a press release from the company. Village NetMedia also purchased Courier's Rockland printing operation. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed
As a result of the acquisition, the Courier's Waldo Independent and VillageSoup's Waldo County Citizen will be folded into The Republican Journal, which will continue to serve the Belfast region. VillageSoup's Knox County Times will be folded into The Camden Herald and The Courier-Gazette in Rockland.
VillageSoup also plans to expand its web presence beyond Knox and Waldo counties to Kennebec and Hancock counties. Richard Anderson, president and co-founder of VillageSoup, recently told Mainebiz the deal would "allow us to re-energize the legacy papers and bring them back to a level people are accustomed to."
Anderson also said the merging of the two companies will result in the elimination of 26 positions, "primarily" from Courier, he said. The two companies currently employ 129 people, according to Anderson.
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