Postmedia buys 175 Sun Media papers from Quebecor

Chris Davis

Postmedia yesterday announced their acquisition of all Sun Media English language newspapers and websites for $316 million, pending the regulatory OK of the Canadian Competition Bureau. One of those properties is the Pincher Creek Echo, the second oldest surviving newspaper in Alberta, founded in 1900 (circulation 1240)*.  Quebecor reportedly purchased Sun Media in 1998 for $1 billion**.  According to the Huffington Post, Postmedia is more than $470 million in debt. Postmedia owns the National Post, the Calgary Herald, the Vancouver Sun, and numerous other daily and weekly newspapers and websites in Canada.

As publisher and editor of the Pincher Creek Voice I would be remiss to not mention this latest wrinkle in the Echo's long story. The Publisher of the Echo referred our request for comment to the Publisher of the Edmonton Sun. Since the story is well covered by many Canadian news sources with greater resources than ours, and since we compete directly with the Pincher Creek Echo, we'll leave it there for the time being.

Related links:

Pincher Creek Echo wiki*

Huffington Post story on Sun Media sale**

Toronto Star story on Sun Media sale

CBC story on Sun Media sale

Pincher Creek Echo / Sun Media story on Sun Media sale

Calgary Herald / Postmedia story on Sun Media sale

Toronto Sun Family forum on Sun Media sale