Dolan Media Acquires Louisiana Construction Daily Newspaper

Posted on February 14, 2003

Dolan Media Company has acquired the Daily Journal of Commerce, the largest construction daily business newspaper in the South, from Guide Publishing Company, Inc. A 92-year-old broadsheet newspaper published five days a week, the Daily Journal of Commerce covers construction news and data from Louisiana and Mississippi and operates an Internet-based online data service. The acquisition was announced jointly by James P. Dolan, president and chief executive of Dolan Media, and Jo-Anne Shanahan, chairman of Guide Publishing.

The Daily Journal of Commerce will become part of Dolan Media's New Orleans Publishing Group, whose flagship is the weekly New Orleans CityBusiness. D. Mark Singletary, publisher of CityBusiness, also was named publisher of The Daily Journal of Commerce. Anne N. Lovis will remain as general manager of the Daily Journal of Commerce, according to Singletary. Singletary said the newspaper and staff for the time being will remain at 118 Terry Parkway in Gretna, which is across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans.

For a transition period, Dolan Media will operate Guide Publishing's printing and production center in Gretna, LA, although the presses and real estate were not among the assets sold in the transaction. Dolan said he expected to invest in the construction newspaper to accelerate its growth.

The Daily Journal of Commerce provides specialized construction, municipal bond and government construction bid data and news. Governments use the newspaper and websites to circulate bid notices, contractors and subcontractors use them to find new business, and finance professionals use them to keep abreast of industry and market news. The company also publishes public notice advertising and sells public records data. This becomes Dolan Media's third construction-oriented daily newspaper, joining The Daily Reporter in Milwaukee and the Daily Journal of Commerce in Portland, OR.

Dolan said the transaction included the name and assets of the defunct New Orleans Shipping Guide, a newspaper that covered the Port of New Orleans and once was the largest source of shipping news in the South. The Guide may be resurrected in the future, he said.

Dolan Media also announced that its Journal Record Publishing Company has acquired the assets of online capitol news service Oklahoma Stateline and signed a long-term licensing agreement with an affiliate of the seller, System Insights of Austin, TX. Oklahoma Stateline is being merged into Dolan Media's Oklahoma Business News. The merged services, renamed Journal Record Legislative Report, is being relaunched to coincide with opening of the 2003 Oklahoma Legislature, according to Mary Melon, publisher of The Journal Record.

Closely held Dolan Media, based in Minneapolis, is a provider of specialized business information products and services. Its National Group is a gatherer and seller of credit-related public records for customers in the credit, finance and marketing industries. Dolan Media's Regional Group operates daily and weekly business newspapers, including court and commercial newspapers and business journals, in 17 metro markets across the nation.