OC WEEKLY SOLD TO THE DUNCAN MCINTOSH COMPANY
February 5, 2016 — Voice Media Group announced today it has sold OC Weekly, its award-winning publication in Costa Mesa, Calif., to Irvine-based publisher Duncan McIntosh.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Voice has been owned by VMG since January 2013, when a group of former Village Voice Media executives purchased it and ten other publications from the previous owners.
The Duncan McIntosh Co. publishes Boating World magazine, Sea magazine, and The Log Newspaper. Since 2010, it has also owned the 138-year-old iconic journalism trade publication Editor & Publisher.
VMG announced in January 2015 that it had retained merger and acquisition firm Dirks, Van Essen & Murray to explore new strategies for its portfolio of publishing assets, including the possible sale or acquisition of alternative publications or digital businesses.
Since then, VMG has sold the Village Voice of New York City, City Pages of Minneapolis, and the Riverfront Times of St. Louis as part of a plan to expand its successful digital agency business and focus resources on core editorial properties.
The sale of the Weekly caps that restructuring process, and VMG chief executive officer Scott Tobias said he was pleased to see McIntosh step forward as the buyer in Orange County.
“We’re happy to know that our great team at the Weekly will be in the hands of a well-established local publisher with significant assets and a commitment to continuing its tradition of excellence,” Tobias said.
During the ten years VMG has owned the Weekly, the publication has been recognized nationally for its investigative reporting, including ground-breaking stories exposing misconduct at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The Weekly is also known for its smart and irreverent coverage of local music, restaurants, arts and culture.
“Purchasing the OC Weekly brings us full-circle. We started with a weekly newspaper in Newport Beach, and we’re very excited to be taking over a publishing icon in Orange County with such a great staff and a major presence online,” said company president Duncan McIntosh.
Following the sale of the Weekly, VMG will continue to own and operate V Digital Services, its digital agency, along with LA Weekly, Phoenix New Times, Denver’s Westword, Miami New Times, the Dallas Observer, the Houston Press, and New Times Broward-Palm Beach.