Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Buffett Snaps Up Hometown Newspaper

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A) agreed to acquire the Omaha World-Herald Co. on Wednesday, allowing the legendary investor to take ownership of his hometown newspaper.

Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in late December, weren't disclosed. Omaha World-Herald's properties include its namesake publication, daily newspapers in Council Bluffs, Iowa and the Nebraska cities of Grand Island, North Platte, York, Kearney and Scottsbluff.

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Other assets include a number of weekly papers and shopper publications in Iowa and Nebraska, and World Marketing, a direct marketing firm that operates in Omaha, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. "The World-Herald delivers solid profits and is one of the best-run newspapers in America, and we are pleased to have Terry Kroeger and his team join Berkshire Hathaway," Buffett said in a statement. Kroeger is the CEO of Omaha World-Herald. Buffett also asserted in the statement that the editorial independence of the paper will continue. Berkshire Hathaway owns the Buffalo News and has a large investment in The Washington Post, according to The Associated Press.Buffett has previously expressed a less than optimistic view of the newspaper industry, saying of newspapers, "They were only essential to advertisers as long as they were essential to the reader, and that is changing."Berkshire Class B shares were rallying along with the broad market, adding more than 4% to $78.33. --. >To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.

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