New Media Investment Group to acquire Columbia Daily Tribune

New Media Investment Group Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune.

The Daily Tribune has been owned by members of the Waters family for the past 111 years.  The newspaper serves a large region in central Missouri with 15,000 daily and 17,000 Sunday circulation.  Columbia is home to the University of Missouri with more than 30,000 students.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, N.M., represented the Waters family in the sale. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Andy Waters, who represents the fourth generation of the family, said, "The decision to sell our family's publishing operation was extremely difficult. The fast changing dynamics of the newspaper industry seem to lend themselves to scale that larger newspaper companies can bring. The Tribune always has been known for its local journalism, and we believe the community will continue to be well-served by the new owners."