Paddock buys DuPage-based Business Ledger

Paddock Publications Inc. announced plans Friday to acquire the Naperville-based Business Ledger, a bi-weekly publication.

The acquisition expands Paddock Publication's business-to-business footprint. The Business Ledger, a publication mailed to 10,000 business leaders primarily in DuPage, Kane and Will counties, its complementary e-newsletter, The Business Edge, as well as the Ledger's website will join Paddock's just-introduced Daily Herald Suburban Business publication and a weekly B2B e-newsletter in the company's portfolio.

The Ledger transaction is part of a bank-owned bankruptcy auction of Ohio Community Media.

Earlier this month, Paddock launched publication of Daily Herald Suburban Business, a monthly magazine connecting business owners, managers, corporate leaders and their staffs in the Northwest suburbs of Cook and Lake counties.

“These two new initiatives for Paddock Daily Herald Suburban Business and the Business Ledger make for a powerful combination and the largest suburban-based business product in the United States,” said Douglas K. Ray, Chairman and C.E.O. of Paddock Publications.

Daily Herald Suburban Business is mailed to 12,000 subscribers, while its e-newsletter is viewed by 5,000 registered users each week.

“From a strategic standpoint, reaching new markets is the key to improving Paddock's revenues and earnings and part of a long-term growth and diversification strategy,” Ray said.

Paddock and the Daily Herald have a long-standing relationship with the suburban business community through strong local contacts, Ray added.

“The purchase of the Business Ledger is important to us because it immediately broadens our business-to-business initiative into DuPage County and beyond with an established newspaper product and a portfolio which includes the Internet and event marketing,” Ray said.

Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.

The Business Ledger, founded by James Elsener, will continue to operate from its Naperville location at 1260 Iroquois Ave. Elsener started the publication in 1996 and was its publisher in 2008 when he sold the company.

Elsener was hired as an adviser to Paddock Publications on the Suburban Business initiative several months ago. He now will work to facilitate the transition after the acquisition.

The Business Ledger and Daily Herald Suburban Business will continue to operate independently. Events planned by the publications will focus on their core markets.

“There obviously are natural synergies but for the most part,” Ray said, “the content will be separate and distinct again with emphasis on close-to-home business news and information that affects the business community.”

Both publications will be printed at the Paddock Printing Center in Schaumburg.

Paddock Publications is the publisher of the Daily Herald, dailyherald.com, Reflejos and an array of niche publications. The Daily Herald is one of the largest family-owned newspapers in the country and has been published in the suburbs since 1872.