Boone subsidiary to purchase The Valley Times-News

An agreement has been reached in principle for the sale of operating assets and real estate of The Valley Times-News by Valley Newspapers, Inc. and its owner, Nell Walls. The transaction's legal paper work will be completed and signed in September and the transaction will close effective Oct. l.

This daily newspaper serves West Point, Ga., Lanett and Valley, Ala., from its office in West Point.

The buyer will be a subsidiary of Boone Newspapers, Inc. (BNI) of Tuscaloosa, Ala. BNI manages newspapers in similar sized communities in Alabama, Georgia, in which The LaGrange Daily News is a BNI affiliate, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

There are no plans to merge the two newspaper operations, but the close proximity of one to the other is a major mutual advantage. The office for The Valley Times-News will remain in West Point in its present location and its current staff will be based there, with the exception of publisher Cy Wood. He is retiring in September; he and his family made earlier this year that do not relate to the upcoming transition.

"We are honored to succeed Nell Walls, appreciate the strong foundations she and her late husband Tom Walls put down for these newspapers," Jim Boone, chairman of BNI, said. "My family and I will see that our obligations are fulfilled to these communities and the Walls Family."

Due diligence is underway now toward completion of the transaction.