This is the largest acquisition to date for the company, which launched into newspapers with the weekly Cook County News-Herald in Minnesota, following up with the acquisition of four titles in Arkansas and one in Alabama. In July, it started the Rainy Lake Gazette in International Falls, Minnesota.

The 20 mastheads acquired from Gannett for undisclosed terms are published in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. Dirks, Van Essen & April acted for the vendor.

CherryRoad Media is a whole owned subsidiary of CherryRoad Technologies, a Parsippany, New Jersey-based technology company that has been in business since 1983. It provides complex technical solutions and system integration services to large enterprise customers, particularly state and local government entities.

Late last year the company decided to look at the local newspaper industry, chief executive Jeremy Gulban saying they felt there was a need for “an infusion of technology from a supportive side as opposed to a competitive side”.

“We are very excited to be working with such a talented group of people to serve these communities going forward,” he said. “We plan to bring the focus back to local news and to offer additional digital solutions to supplement the printed newspapers.”

The newspapers acquired include: the Pratt Tribune, Kiowa County Signal, Hiawatha Penny Press, Butler County Times-Gazette, McPherson Sentinel, Leavenworth Times, Wellington Daily News, Dodge City Daily Globe, Newton Kansan, Garden City Telegram, St. John News, Hays Daily News, and Ottawa Herald, all in Kansas; the Nebraska City News Press, and Syracuse Journal-Democrat in Nebraska; the Hamburg Reporter in Iowa; and the Independence Examiner, Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, Boonville Daily News, and Linn County Leader in Missouri.

On the company’s CherryRoad Technologies website, Gulban (pictured) says acquiring media houses is “one of our ways to give back to our community”.
He says media houses “add so much value to our daily lives but are suffering the brunt of digital age by losing subscriptions”. He commits the company to using its enabling technologies to enhance the online experience of the media assets.