W.B. Grimes & Company, a leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory firm serving the media, entertainment and professional sports industries, has announced that its Global Media, Events & Information Services Group, and its Newspapers Group have been acquired by John J. McGovern, a former senior associate with the firm.

The Daily Record (Dunn, N.C.) has expanded its operation with the acquisition of The Courier-Times of Roxboro, one of North Carolina's leading community newspapers.

Daily Record publisher Bart Adams, along with Brent Adams and Maere Kay Lashmit, announced the purchase. Their father and mother, Hoover and Mellicent Adams, founded The Daily Record in 1950.

Brinn Clayton, Courier-Times publisher, and Bart Adams are longtime friends and that friendship played an important role in the sale.

Adams Publishing Group, LLC has acquired MessAge Media, Inc., a group of local community newspapers based in Aitkin and Isle, Minn.

MessAge Media publishes two locally edited weekly newspapers, The Mille Lacs Messenger and the Aitkin Independent Age. In addition the company publishes the weekly Bargain Hunter free distribution shopper, an eight-times-per-year Real Estate Guide, along with an annual Fun Guide, and various special pages and sections throughout the year.

NCWV Media continued its growth efforts this past week by purchasing The Republican, a weekly newspaper based in Oakland, Md.

The Herald, a weekly newspaper in Havana, Fla., owned and operated by Nick Bert, has been sold to Mark Pettus, a veteran newspaper publisher from Jacksonville, Fla.

The sale of the Council Grove Republican, published continuously the past 145 years since the first issue on Aug. 24, 1872, has been announced by Craig McNeal, president of Council Grove Publishing Company, Inc. The sale to David Parker, Enid, Okla., is effective July 1.

Ted and Kari Jo Almen, owners of Village Ink, of Kerkhoven, Minn., have reached an agreement with Kim and Michael Hawkenson to purchase their 6,500-circulation weekly newspaper. The purchase became effective May 26.

The New Orleans Advocate's owners expanded their footprint in St. Tammany Parish last week, purchasing The Farmer, a weekly newspaper that has been part of the Northshore's civic life since 1874.

There are several steps publishers can take to potentially increase the value of their publication in a sale. Putting these into action over a 3-5 year period should set the stage for a smooth and rewarding transaction.