Digital First Media and co-owner Los Angeles Times sold their CIPS Marketing Group to ACI Last Mile Network on undisclosed terms.
Digital First is the Denver-based parent of Southern California News Group, which runs some dozen publications and websites in the region, including the Orange County Register.
SCNG has offices in Woodland Hills and Anaheim; the latter is the new home of the Register’s operations.
CIPS, in Willowbrook, Calif., near Los Angeles, and ACI Last Mile, in Long Beach, deliver subscription papers, advertising packages and community news products.
ACI Last Mile has a national distribution network—clients include the Register and the Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Miami Herald, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution—and the buy strengthens local operations, said Chief Executive Keith Somers.
“CIPS has been a competitor for about 30 years, and it’s been owned by two very important customers of ours since 2000,” Somers said. Buying CIPS “consolidates our business and helps us serve our customers more effectively.”
He said ACI’s annual revenue will top $100 million with the acquisition.
Meier is a reporter for our sister publication, Los Angeles Business Journal, where a version of this article first appeared.
