Warren Buffett to buy Media General newspapers

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/us-mediageneral-idUSBRE84G0M920120517

The deal announced Thursday means Buffett will have a stable of about 25 daily newspapers across the country, turning the chairman of the ice-cream-to-insurance conglomerate into one of the country's biggest publishers as well.

Its 63 daily and weekly newspapers scattered throughout the U.S. Southeast, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, will be operated under BH Media Group, a new subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The sale does not include newspapers in Media General's Tampa division, which will be sold separately.

Berkshire already owns the Buffalo News, the Omaha World-Herald Co and a stake in the Washington Post Co. The conglomerate also reportedly holds a small stake in the recently reorganized newspaper chain Lee Enterprises.

With the Media General deal, Buffett will own, outright or in large part, three of the top 10 newspapers in the country by market penetration, according to the Pew Research Center.