Towanda Printing Company, which the Owego Pennysaver is a part of, announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to sell the company to Sample News Group.
George V. Lynett Jr., publisher of The Times-Tribune, made the announcement along with George “Scoop” Sample, CEO of Sample News Group.
Mr. Lynett is also a CEO of Times-Shamrock Communications, the parent company of Towanda Printing and The Times-Tribune.
An asset purchase agreement between the two companies was executed Aug. 4, and the sale is expected to be completed by Oct. 1.
Towanda Printing Co. is made up of three newspaper clusters that include daily, weekly and monthly publications that serve a five-county area centered in Northeast Pennsylvania and South Central New York. Those publications include: The Daily Review, the Bradford Sullivan Pennysaver, and the Farmer’s Friend, all in Towanda; the Northeast Driller, Sayre; the Troy Pennysaver, Troy; the Susquehanna County Independent and Weekender in Montrose; The News Item in Shamokin; the Citizens Standard in Valley View; and the Owego Pennysaver in Owego, New York.
Also included in the sale is the company’s printing facility in Towanda.
“This is a bittersweet moment for our family and for me as a former publisher of The Daily Review. We have had a wonderful experience as owners of the Towanda Printing Co.,” Mr. Lynett said. “But we are also confident that we have placed Towanda Printing in the capable hands of another respected, family-owned media company.”
Times-Shamrock purchased the Towanda Printing Co. from the Turner family in 1977, opening a Sayre bureau the following year and debuting the Sunday Review in 1987. Towanda Printing Co.’s state-of-the-art printing plant was opened in 2001.
Times-Shamrock continues to operate daily newspapers in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville and Hazleton, as well as 14 radio stations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin and Nevada.
Sample News Group, headquartered in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, owns more than 50 publications, including 15 daily newspapers, in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Morning Times in Sayre, Pa. is one of the more local daily papers owned by Sample News Group.
“We welcome Towanda Printing Co. and Shamokin into our family of newspapers,” Mr. Sample said. “We are honored to have been selected by Times-Shamrock to continue their legacy of delivering all the best news to these fine communities.”
