Voice Media Group announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell the storied LA Weekly to Semanal Media, LLC. The company informed the members of the Weekly’s local bargaining unit of the decision this afternoon.

VMG chief executive officer Scott Tobias said he expected the deal to close within two weeks. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is representing Voice Media Group in the transaction.

VMG announced in January that it was seeking a buyer for the Weekly, long considered one of the nation’s premier alternative weekly newspapers and websites. The sale, one of several similar transactions executed by VMG over the past four years, reflects the company’s ongoing transformation from a traditional print newspaper company to a web-forward enterprise specializing in cutting-edge digital advertising services.

Earlier this year, Inc. magazine named VMG’s digital advertising arm, V Digital Services, one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. VDS now operates in 13 major U.S. cities, featuring more than 90 analysts and account managers who specialize in helping small and large businesses achieve digital success through expertise in organic SEO, paid media, social media management, web development and both programmatic and pay-per-click advertising.

Following the sale of the Weekly, VMG will continue to own and operate five iconic weeklies, including Phoenix New Times, Denver Westword, Miami New Times, the Dallas Observer and the Houston Press.

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