Calkins selling 6 newspapers near Philadelphia, Pittsburgh

LEVITTOWN, Pa. – Family-owned Calkins Media is selling its six daily newspapers in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs.

The company announced Monday that GateHouse Media is acquiring the Bucks County Courier Times, The Intelligencer, the Beaver County Times and the Ellwood City Ledger, all in Pennsylvania, and the Burlington County Times in New Jersey. A parent of GateHouse says the deal is worth $17.5 million.

Calkins says a sixth property, the (Uniontown) Herald-Standard, is being purchased by Wheeling, West Virginia-based Ogden Newspapers. Terms of that deal weren’t announced.

Pittsford, New York-based GateHouse is one of the nation’s largest media companies, with 130 dailies before the acquisition.

The deals are expected to close June 30.

Calkins board member Stan Ellis says the sole reason for the sale was “the economics in running a paper in today’s world.”