• by Ray Schultz , October 24, 2022

Adams Publishing Group is acquiring The Livingston Enterprise and its parent company Yellowstone Newspapers, consisting of 13 small-town Montana newspapers. Terms were not disclosed. 

The deal was reached last Friday by John Sullivan, president of the Montana Group, and Mark Adams, president and CEO of Minnesota-based Adams Publishing Group (APG). It is expected to close on Nov. 1.

This marks the end of a 57-year reign in the local newspaper business for the Yellowstone Group. 

“After over half a century of shepherding these Montana community papers, it’s time we turned over their care and feeding to a new outfit,” Sullivan states. “We are confident Mark Adams and his new organization will take good care of our papers and our communities.” 

Founded in 2014, Adams Publishing is a family-owned group that now owns  more than 120 newspapers and more than 220  media-related and associated digital products in 19 states. The company owns the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and Belgrade News in the state.  

The purchase is  a great strategic fit with our Big Sky region based in Bozeman, and we look forward to providing that region with greater regional and local community journalism as well as a larger advertiser audience,” Adams states.  

The purchase will add more than 100 Yellowstone employees to APG. 

The purchased titles include: The Enterprise, The Miles City Star, The Glendive Ranger-Review, The Lewistown News-Argus, The Dillon Tribune, The Big Timber Pioneer, The Laurel Outlook, The Carbon County News, The Bighorn County News, The Stillwater County News, The Terry Tribune, The ((Forsyth) Independent Press, and The Judith Basin Press.