After months of rumors about its fate, The Tampa Tribune has been sold to a California-based private equity firm for $9.5 million.
Media General, Inc., the Tribune’s longtime owner, announced the sale to Tampa Media Group, Inc., a new company formed by the private-equity firm Revolution Capital Group. The Virginia-based Media General has sold off newspapers as it shifted focus to its broadcast and digital businesses, including WFLA-TV in Tampa.
“It’s a bittersweet day for Media General to complete the sale of its last remaining newspaper group,” the company’s president and chief executive officer, Marshall N. Morton, said in a news release Monday. “The Tampa Tribune was our largest and second oldest newspaper. Many Tribune employees have decades of service. The Tribune staff has been extraordinarily dedicated to providing their readers with excellent journalism, creating value for their advertisers and supporting the local community.”
The release did not detail Revolution Capital Group’s plans for the newspaper, though founding partner Cyrus Nikou was quoted as saying the “prospects for future success are strong for The Tampa Tribune and its associated print and digital platforms. We will lead an orderly transition, focused on the needs of our customers, and we look forward to working with The Tribune management team to position the business for future growth.”
Rumors have swirled in newspaper circles about the future of the Tribune, which has suffered from the downturn in the industry and has long been locked in a market battle with the Tampa Bay Times.
