Tampa Tribune sold for $9.5M

TAMPA — Media General Inc., owner of The Tampa Tribune, announced it has sold the newspaper and its associated digital products to a private equity investment group. The sale, which closed today, was for $9.5 million, subject to adjustments for working capital and other items, yielding net proceeds before expenses of about $2 million, Media General says in a release.

Los Angeles-based investment firm Revolution Capital Group will take over operations of the newspaper starting today through a locally based company it created named Tampa Media Group. The sale includes the Tribune's smaller publications, Hernando Today, Highlands Today, Suncoast News, Sunbelt Newspapers and Spanish-language Centro.

Media General announced in February it was looking for a buyer for the newspaper group, which has experienced falling revenues the past few years. According to its annual report, revenues in its Florida market fell 15% in 2011, and its operating losses in the market were $17.9 million in the same year.