Maidenhead-based independent newspaper group Baylis Media has acquired the 133-year-old Henley Standard weekly newspaper from Oxfordshire-based Higgs Group.
The newspaper is now operated by the Baylis Community Media CIC, an independent publishing company, which also owns the Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express and Windsor Express.
Steve Luker, joint chairman of the Higgs Group, said: "We have come to understand Baylis Media’s commitment to publishing quality local news, which is a very close fit to ours. Like us, it values its staff, its local community and its customers.
"We are happy to have reached this agreement which we believe will give our publications the best chance to develop and prosper for many years to come. We are convinced that within the Baylis Group, the Henley Standard and all our publications will have a positive future."
Thames Valley law firm Blandy & Blandy advised Higgs Group on the sale. South-east regional law firm Gardner Leader supported newspaper group Baylis Media on the deal.
John Luker, life president of the Higgs Group, added: "As someone who first started working full-time for Higgs & Co in 1955, I am naturally a little sad that the Henley Standard will no longer be part of the family company.
"During that time, many local newspapers have been taken over by large groups and, while many tried to keep their identity, they undoubtedly lost their individuality.
"Although I retired from the board as long ago as 2008, I have always been proud that the Standard has continued for so long as an independent voice for Henley and its environs, due in no small measure to the efforts of successive editors and their loyal staff.
"The new publishers are committed to maintaining the Henley-centric ethos of the paper and are proven supporters of genuine local journalism. I am confident that they will retain this special nature, and I look forward to an exciting new era."
Peter Sands, chair of the trustees of the Louis Baylis Charitable Trust, which funded the purchase, added: "We, as a trust, are very focused on independent local journalism and its function within the communities they serve - to inform, support and, where necessary, to question and investigate on behalf of the people.
"We have a long tradition of serving the local areas in East Berkshire and we are now very pleased to extend that service to South Oxfordshire."
Jeremy Spooner, managing director of Baylis Community Media CIC, said: "We are delighted that we now publish the Henley Standard. We are aware of the unique position that it holds within the town and are proud to be the custodians of this wonderful newspaper."
