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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Warren Buffett buys Roanoke Times from Landmark

Billionaire Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha," continues to invest in newspapers. His BH Media Group is buying The Roanoke Times from Norfolk-based Landmark Media Enterprises, further expanding Buffett's holdings in Virginia. The purchase was the second from Landmark this year; the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary bought the Greensboro News & Record in January.

“Of the people who are buying newspapers now, I think Berkshire is the best home for The Roanoke Times,” Landmark Chairman and CEO Frank Batten Jr. said. “They are a reputable company, and they have good ethical standards. . . . They’re hard-nosed business people like everybody else, but I think they understand the value and the role of newspapers.” For the Times story, by Laurence Hammack, click here.

Steve Jordon of the Omaha World-Herald notes that the Times "will be the 29th daily newspaper owned by BH Media, which also owns 40 newspapers published once, twice or three times a week, plus shoppers, monthly publications and regional magazines and related online publications. . . . Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire, has been assembling a network of small and medium-sized newspapers since he bought The World-Herald in December 2011." Most were bought from Media General Corp. of Richmond, with heavy interests in Virginia and North Carolina. Here's a list.

The deal leaves Landmark, which made billions selling The Weather Channel to NBC Universal, with The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and about 56 community newspapers, overseen from Shelbyville, Ky. It also owns KLAS-TV in Las Vegas.

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