Shaw owner buys media company

Published 1:05 am Friday, May 18, 2012

Media General Inc. Wednesday announced that it is selling 63 newspapers, including The Dothan Eagle and The Opelika-Auburn News, to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for $142 million.

A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, BH Media Group, will purchase all of the newspapers owned by Media General, with the exception of the Tampa Tribune and its publications.

Under a separate credit agreement, Berkshire Hathaway will provide Media General with a $400 million term loan and a $45 million revolving credit line. The new loan will be used to fully repay the company’s existing bank debt due March 2013 and will mature in May 2020.

Shaw Industries Group, Inc. which operates a plant in Andalusia, is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.