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EXHIBIT 99
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [PULITZER INC. LETTERHEAD]
PULITZER INC. TO ACQUIRE
SUBURBAN JOURNALS OF GREATER ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS, June 26, 2000 - Pulitzer Inc. (NYSE: PTZ) announced today it
has reached an agreement to acquire the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis
from the Journal Register Company (NYSE:JRC). The purchase price for the
properties, which include 38 weekly papers, the Ladue News and various niche
publications, is $165 million.
The transaction is expected to close this fall and is subject to
customary approvals, including review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
Robert C. Woodworth, president and chief executive officer of Pulitzer
Inc., said, "The purchase of the Suburban Journals by Pulitzer Inc. will be
positive for the St. Louis community, the readers of the Suburban Journals and
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the advertisers and the employees of both
organizations, and our shareholders. Significantly, it returns the Suburban
Journals to local ownership."
Woodworth added that Pulitzer will continue to operate the Suburban
Journals and the Post-Dispatch as independent organizations, with totally
independent editorial voices and specific areas of focus. "Pulitzer strongly
believes that maintaining the independence of the two properties is in the best
interests of the company and the community," he said.
He noted that the acquisition is consistent with Pulitzer's acquisition
strategies because it is an investment in properties and a marketplace that
Pulitzer knows well, and at a price that enables the company to build long-term
value.
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Pulitzer Suburban Journals acquisition
Benefits of the transaction include cost efficiencies that will allow
each organization to focus more resources on putting out quality publications.
Pulitzer expects to achieve savings on real estate, newsprint and other
purchasing-related costs, Woodworth said. The current plan calls for the total
number of jobs at both organizations to remain at the current level, and for
maintaining separate distribution systems, he added.
Woodworth said that Pulitzer will make investments to enhance the
Suburban Journal's already strong coverage of local community news, making the
papers more useful and attractive to readers, and thus more effective vehicles
for advertisers of all sizes, especially advertisers who can benefit from
smaller distribution options.
At the same time, Woodworth said, the Post-Dispatch can focus on
expanding and improving coverage of news of metro-wide interest, including
international and national news, local news, business news and sports. In
addition, the increased access to local news and information from the Suburban
Journals will add valuable content on the Web site operated by Pulitzer's new
media unit.
Woodworth noted that, combined with the recently announced transaction
with the Herald Company in which Pulitzer increased its interests in the results
of the operations of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Company has invested $471
million in the St. Louis market in the last two months. "With the purchase of
the Suburban Journals, Pulitzer clearly demonstrates its belief that St. Louis
is poised for great things in the coming years. We intend to grow with the
community."
The $165 million purchase price is equivalent to approximately 12.9
times 1999 operating cash flow (operating earnings before depreciation and
amortization). The Suburban Journals had 1999 revenues of approximately $51
million.
The transaction is structured as a purchase of assets, which will
enable Pulitzer to realize up to $65 million in tax benefits over the
depreciable and amortizable lives of the assets acquired. Pulitzer will pay for
the acquisition from its cash reserves.
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Pulitzer said that even with the anticipated investments to enhance the
Suburban Journal's editorial coverage, earnings dilution is expected to be
modest, about 4 percent in the first full year of operation and declining in the
following years.
Journal Register Company, which had 1999 total revenues of $470
million, is a leading U.S. newspaper publishing company that owns 25 daily
newspapers, including the New Haven Register, Connecticut's second largest daily
and Sunday newspaper, and 200 non-daily publications. All of the Company's
operations are strategically clustered in seven geographic areas: Connecticut,
Philadelphia and its surrounding areas, Ohio, the greater St. Louis area,
central New England, and the Capital-Saratoga and Mid-Hudson regions of New
York. The Company currently operates 147 individual Web sites featuring the
Company's daily newspapers and non-daily publications, which can be accessed at
journalregister.com. The Company currently has equity investments in AdOne, LLC,
a premier Internet-based classified advertising service, and PowerAdz.com, LLC,
a leading Internet infrastructure provider for the newspaper industry.
Pulitzer Inc. is engaged in newspaper publishing and related new media
activities. The Company's newspaper operations include two major metropolitan
dailies, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson,
Arizona, and 12 other dailies: The Pantagraph, Bloomington Ill.; The Daily
Herald, Provo, Utah; the Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, Calif.; The Napa Valley
Register, Napa, Calif.; The World, Coos Bay, Ore.; The Hanford Sentinel,
Hanford, Calif.; the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz.; the Troy Daily News,
Troy, Ohio; The Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.; The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii;
the Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.; and The Daily News, Rhinelander, Wisc.
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Pulitzer Inc. also engages in a variety of new media and interactive
initiatives, including postnet.com in St. Louis, StarNet in Tucson, and Web
sites for a number of other Company-owned newspapers. Pulitzer's new media
activities also include strategic investments in AdOne, the Internet's most
comprehensive classified advertising service; Koz.com, which provides the
infrastructure and support services that enable local media Web sites to bring
local groups and organizations online; hire.com, whose technology enables
companies to install employee-recruiting capabilities on their Web sites; and
iOwn.com, which facilitates the home-buying process.
Pulitzer Inc. is the successor to the company originally founded by
Joseph Pulitzer in St. Louis in 1878.
For further information, contact James V. Maloney, director of
shareholder relations, Pulitzer Inc. at (314) 340-8402.
NOTE:
The above statements include forward-looking statements which are based on
current management expectations of the Company. Forward-looking statements
are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements.
Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited
to, industry cyclicality, the seasonal nature of the business, changes in
pricing or other actions by competitors or suppliers (including newsprint),
capital or similar requirements, and general economic conditions, any of
which may impact advertising and circulation revenues and various types of
expenses. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in
the forward-looking statement are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
SPECIAL NOTICE:
Pulitzer Inc. will conduct a conference call for investors to discuss this
transaction beginning at 4:15 p.m. EDT today. Investors wishing to listen
to the call may contact James V. Maloney, director of shareholder
relations, Pulitzer Inc. at (314) 340-8406 prior to 3:30 p.m. EDT to obtain
access information.
