Struggling Rochester Post-Bulletin gets new regional owner

The Rochester Post-Bulletin will have a new owner.

The regional newspaper operator Forum Communications has inked a deal to acquire the Rochester Post-Bulletin, which is the largest paper in southeast Minnesota.

Fargo, N.D.-based Forum Communications owns more than three dozen papers in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin

The deal doesn't include the Post-Bulletin's building or printing facility in downtown Rochester, which was put up for sale late last year.

In recent years, the Post-Bulletin has cut back on the number of days it publishes and laid off staff under financial pressures stemming from reduced ad and subscription revenue.

The privately-owned Small Newspaper Group acquired the paper in 1977.