ImpreMedia
Acquires La Raza
Chicago's award-winning Spanish language weekly
ImpreMedia
now publishes the #1 Spanish language newspapers in the country's
Top 3 Hispanic markets
Chicago, Ill.
(October 18, 2004) - ImpreMedia, LLC, the nation's leading publisher
of Spanish-language newspapers, announced today the acquisition
of PrensAmerica Holdings Corporation, publisher of La Raza,
the #1 Spanish language newspaper in Chicago.
ImpreMedia
also publishes La Opinión, the #1 Spanish language
daily newspaper in Los Angeles, and El Diario La Prensa,
the #1 Spanish language daily newspaper in New York.
"We are
excited to add La Raza to the ImpreMedia family,"
said Douglas Knight, chairman & CEO of ImpreMedia. "We
now publish the #1 Spanish language newspapers in the nation's
top 3 Hispanic markets.
Celebrating
its 34th anniversary this month, La Raza has been recognized
by the National Association of Hispanic Publishers as the "Best
Spanish Language Weekly" five times over the past decade
and was recently named by Editor and Publisher as one of "Ten
That Do It Right."
Robert Armband,
who has been instrumental in La Raza's remarkable growth
for more than a decade will continue as publisher and CEO of La
Raza and its related publications, Mr. Knight also announced.
"Joining
forces with the nation's largest Spanish language newspapers adds
significant depth to our available resources, allowing us to offer
more value than ever to our readers and advertisers," said
Mr. Armband.
"Based
on Scarborough's readership research in New York, Los Angeles
and Chicago, we can now offer advertisers reach of 1.9 million
unique readers each week through our newspapers in the nation's
top three Hispanic markets," said Erich Linker, senior vice-president
national advertising sales.
About ImpreMedia
ImpreMedia
is the leading publisher of Spanish language newspapers in the
US. The company publishes El Diario La Prensa in New York,
La Opinión in Los Angeles and La Raza in
Chicago, the #1 Spanish language newspapers in the top three Hispanic
markets in the country.
ImpreMedia
is backed by a private investment group led by Clarity Partners,
Halyard Capital Fund, ACON Investments and Knight Paton Media.
Clarity Partners
is a Los Angeles based private equity firm with $800 million in
committed capital focused on investments in media and communications.
Managing General Partner Steve Rader was previously instrumental
in acquiring and building Univision, the country's largest Spanish
language television network.
Halyard Capital,
a member of the BMO Financial Group, is a New York based private
equity firm with $450 million in committed capital. Halyard is
focused on growth financings and management buyout opportunities
in media, communications and business services.
ACON Investments
is a diversified private equity firm based in Washington, D.C.
with more than $600 million of capital under management. ACON
has portfolio investments in the United States, Latin America
and Europe and, among its activities, is affiliated with Texas
Pacific Group, one of the leading private equity groups in the
world.
Knight Paton
Media Corporation is the newspaper investment consulting practice
of partners Douglas Knight and John Paton, who serve as chairman
& CEO and president & COO of ImpreMedia, LLC.
Contacts:
Mary Zerafa
VP Market Development & New Media
(213) 896-3600
Steve Greenberg
Executive vice-president corporate development & CFO
(212) 807 4765
