EO Media Group was the high bidder at an auction July 29 for The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman, offering $3.65 million for Central Oregon’s century-old newspapers.

EO Media, or East Oregonian Publishing, outbid Adams Publishing Group in the auction at the offices of Tonkon Torp LLP in Portland, said Michael Fletcher, attorney for The Spokesman’s parent company, Western Communications. A previous bidder, Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers Inc., did not participate in the auction, he said. Judge Trish Brown in U.S Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon approved the sale, which is expected to close at the end of August.

With about $30 million in debt, Western Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. It was the company’s second trip to bankruptcy court since 2012, driven by debt from its headquarters building on Chandler Avenue in Bend that was built in 2000.

“This offers the papers a chance for a fresh start,” said Heidi Wright, chief operating officer of EO Media Group, based in Salem.

EO Media will be the majority owner of a new holding company, Central Oregon Media Group, for The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman, Wright said. A group of Bend investors who contributed capital will have a minority stake. Terms of their agreement with EO Media prevent the local investors from exercising editorial control, Wright said.

EO Media Group is a family-owned company that has been publishing newspapers since 1908.

The Spokesman has been under two owners for most of its history, which started in 1910. After a succession of early owners, Joe and Mary Brown bought the paper in 1931 for $10,000, according to Spokesman archives. Mary Brown became sole publisher in 1955, after she and Joe divorced, and sold the Spokesman to Western Communications in 1971.

“It’s sad to see what happened to the newspaper industry and how it affected everybody in this country,” Wester Communications Chairwoman Betsy McCool said. Investing in local news is one of the reasons Western Communications ended up in bankruptcy, she said. “We protected that newsroom for years. It was important to us.”

McCool said she was rooting for EO Media Group to come out ahead at the auction, noting that she has known the family owners since she was a child. “They seem like compassionate people that care about Oregon,” she said.

Wright said she does not expect to make wholesale changes in the print product. One lingering question is what EO Media Group will do with Western Communications’ press at the Bend headquarters.

EO Media is not acquiring the real estate at 1777 SW Chandler Ave. Terms of a lease for space inside the building require the press to be relocated within 90 days of the building’s sale, Wright said. The building is being marketed separately.

The company’s other newspapers — The Del Norte Triplicate in Crescent City, California; Curry Coastal Pilot in Brookings; The Union Democrat in Sonora, California; The Observer in La Grande; and the Baker City Herald — have already been sold through the bankruptcy proceedings.

EO Media Group was also the buyer of The Observer and Baker City Herald. The company owns four other newspapers east of the Cascade range in Oregon.

“We see the ability to do more effective coverage,” Wright said.

The Bulletin’s daily circulation averages 16,865, and the Spokesman’s is 2,000.

— Reporter: 541-617-7860, kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com