Gannett Completes Acquisition of HomeTown Communications Network's Assets; Richard Aginian Named Consultant and President and Publisher of Detroit Suburban Group

Business Wire, March 31, 2005

MCLEAN, Va. -- Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) today completed the acquisition of the assets of HomeTown Communications Network, Inc., a community publishing company with publications in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.

Richard Aginian has been named president and publisher of the Observer & Eccentric and the Mirror newspaper groups in suburban Detroit. Aginian also will serve as a consultant to Gannett to assist in the transition of the new acquisitions. Aginian previously was president and CEO of HomeTown Communications Network.

"We're excited the former HomeTown publications are officially joining Gannett," said Gary L. Watson, president of the Newspaper Division. "And I'm even more pleased that Dick Aginian has agreed to stay on with Gannett. His experience and knowledge will be a great help with the transition and with running the two Detroit suburban newspaper groups."

Aginian joined HomeTown in 1977. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and Wayne State University. He is active in numerous civic and charitable organizations in the Detroit area.

Watson said the various former HomeTown publications will be assimilated into the Newspaper Division on a geographic basis with the goal of increasing the synergies and service for readers and advertisers in the daily and non-daily newspaper markets.

In a letter to Hometown staffers, Chairman and long-time owner Phil Power said: "After nearly 40 years, it's been a long run - and a good one." Power said he and his wife Kathy "decided it was a good time to sell the business, move on to new things and find other ways to contribute to our state and our society."

The acquisition includes one daily and 62 weekly and twice-weekly community newspapers; 24 community telephone directories; one shopping guide; other specialty and niche publications as well as web sites and commercial printing at four plants.

The newspaper group includes the recently launched Daily Press & Argus in fast-growing Livingston County, MI, and non-daily groups in the suburban areas near Detroit, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Lansing, MI.

Gannett announced the acquisition, which was reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice, in November. Terms were not disclosed.

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 102 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns more than 800 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom's second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 21 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.