Iliffe Media is set to acquire the Newark Advertiser and its associated website and publications, including the Newark Trader, based in Newark, Nottinghamshire. The deal is expected to complete by Monday, June 18, 2018.

It is intended to operate the Advertiser as part of Iliffe Media Midlands, along with other Iliffe titles including the Grantham Journal, Rutland and Stamford Mercury, Lincs Free Press, Spalding Guardian and Lynn News.

It is planned for the printing of these titles to transfer to the Iliffe Print centre in Cambridge in due course.

Iliffe Media Midlands managing director, Richard Parkinson, said: “The Newark Advertiser is a strong local newspaper, at the heart of its community. As well as being a great geographical fit with Iliffe Media’s Midlands titles, this is a really strong cultural fit. Like the Advertiser, Iliffe Media believes in putting the interests of its readers and advertisers first, with locally-based teams.”

Edward Iliffe, chief executive of Iliffe Media, said “We are delighted to be acquiring such a well-respected local newspaper as the Newark Advertiser. At a time when trust in local media is soaring, Iliffe Media, with its long heritage as an independent, family-run media business, is committed to a long-term investment in local newspaper publishing, across all platforms.”

The deal was handled by Iliffe Media board member and media industry adviser, David Fordham. David has worked on all of the group’s previous acquisitions.

Iliffe Media, which publishes the award-winning Cambridge Independent, acquired 13 titles from Johnston Press in January 2017, and subsequently acquired the KM Media Group in April 2017. The Bishop’s Stortford Independent was launched in October 2017.