New acquisition makes Paddock country's largest publisher of chamber guides

Town Square Publications, a subsidiary of Paddock Publications Inc., announced Friday it has purchased the assets of Nashville-based SouthComm Publishing.

The custom publishing division for chamber of commerce magazines of SouthComm Inc., also based in Nashville, has been a significant competitor of Paddock's Town Square Publications since Paddock entered the chamber of commerce specialty publications business nearly 10 years ago. The acquisition expands Town Square's national footprint, particularly in Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia and Florida, making it the largest publisher of chamber of commerce magazines and directories in the country.

Details of the transaction are not being disclosed. As the operations of SouthComm Publishing and Town Square are so closely aligned, the transition for chamber publishing partners should be seamless, said Paddock Publications President and Chief Operations Officer Scott Stone. No interruption in magazine sales or deliveries is anticipated.

For Paddock, this is the fourth major acquisition of a chamber publishing company's assets in the past four years. The others include: Village Profile of Elgin, CommunityLink of Pinckneyville and Lawton Publishing of Spokane, Washington.

"The SouthComm acquisition is in keeping with the company's strategic plan to grow Paddock's business in new and different ways," said Douglas K. Ray, Chairman, CEO and Publisher. "The decision to expand into the nondaily newspaper business has proved to be an excellent one, as the company's niche divisions are contributing nicely to the overall revenue and profitability of Paddock Publications."

Town Square began developing chamber publishing partnerships in Chicago, the suburbs and neighboring states. Today, Town Square works with chambers of commerce across the country to secure advertising sales for and product development of community guides and chamber directories.

Town Square also has recently begun working with convention and visitor bureaus on development of their magazine-quality custom publications.

"SouthComm Publishing was a strong competitor to Town Square for many years, and this acquisition broadens our profile from coast to coast," Stone said. "It reaffirms us as the top chamber publishing company in the country."

Paddock Publications has been a family-owned business since 1872. In addition to the Daily Herald, dailyherald.com and Town Square, Paddock's product suite includes Reflejos, Business Ledger, a large array of niche publications, a community newspaper group serving central and southern Illinois and a commercial printing operation in Schaumburg.