Sun Media
History
History
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Sun Publishing was formed on February 4, 1978 through the amalgamation of Toronto Sun Holdings Ltd and Toronto Sun Publishing Ltd. The two companies had been formed in 1971 with the launch of the *[Toronto Sun](/wiki/Toronto_Sun "Toronto Sun")* by former staffers of the defunct *[Toronto Telegram](/wiki/Toronto_Telegram "Toronto Telegram")*. On February 14, 1978, the *[Edmonton Sun](/wiki/Edmonton_Sun "Edmonton Sun")*, the second member of what would become the Sun chain, was announced through a partnership of Sun Media and Edmonton Sun Publishing Ltd. The paper was launched on April 2, 1978\. In 1981, the outstanding shares of Edmonton Sun Publishing Ltd were acquired by Sun Media. The company purchased the *[Calgary Albertan](/wiki/Calgary_Albertan "Calgary Albertan")* on July 31, 1980 for $1\.3 million and relaunched it days later as the *Calgary Sun*, with the same format and appearance as its sister papers.

In 1979, it purchased the [United Press International](/wiki/United_Press_International "United Press International")'s Canadian subsidiary, the former [British United Press](/wiki/British_United_Press "British United Press"). It ran the news agency for several years before selling it to [Canadian Press](/wiki/Canadian_Press "Canadian Press") in 1985\.

In 1983, 50% of Sun Media was acquired by [Maclean\-Hunter](/wiki/Maclean-Hunter "Maclean-Hunter") for $55 million. That same year, Sun Media, with Maclean\-Hunter's backing, acquired the *[Houston Post](/wiki/Houston_Post "Houston Post")* for $100 million in an attempt to expand into the [United States](/wiki/United_States "United States"). It was sold for $150 million four years later. In 1987, Maclean\-Hunter's *[Financial Post](/wiki/Financial_Post "Financial Post")* weekly was sold to Sun Media for $46 million and was relaunched as a daily tabloid financial newspaper the following year. In 1988, Sun Media acquired the *Ottawa Sunday Herald* which it would relaunch as the daily *[Ottawa Sun](/wiki/Ottawa_Sun "Ottawa Sun")*.

In 1994, Maclean\-Hunter was purchased by [Rogers Communications](/wiki/Rogers_Communications "Rogers Communications"). Two years later, on October 4, 1996, the management of the Sun chain under the leadership of [Paul Godfrey](/wiki/Paul_Godfrey "Paul Godfrey") purchased Rogers' share of the Sun Publishing and renamed the company Sun Media. In 1998, the *Financial Post* was sold to [Southam Inc.](/wiki/Southam_Inc. "Southam Inc.") in exchange for the *[Hamilton Spectator](/wiki/Hamilton_Spectator "Hamilton Spectator")*, the *[Kitchener\-Waterloo Record](/wiki/Waterloo_Region_Record "Waterloo Region Record")*, the *[Guelph Mercury](/wiki/Guelph_Mercury "Guelph Mercury")*, and the *[Cambridge Reporter](/wiki/Cambridge_Reporter "Cambridge Reporter")*. Also in 1998, Sun Media was purchased by Quebecor and maintained as a wholly owned subsidiary of it. Godfrey had sought out Quebecor as a "white knight" in order to frustrate an attempted hostile takeover by the Sun's longtime rival, the *[Toronto Star](/wiki/Toronto_Star "Toronto Star")*. In 1999, Quebcor sold the four recently acquired southern Ontario newspapers to the owners of the *[Toronto Star](/wiki/Toronto_Star "Toronto Star")* and became part of its [Metroland Media Group](/wiki/Metroland_Media_Group "Metroland Media Group"). Southam, owned by [Conrad Black](/wiki/Conrad_Black "Conrad Black"), would relaunch the *Financial Post* as the *[National Post](/wiki/National_Post "National Post")*. In 2007, Sun Media acquired and absorbed the [Osprey Media](/wiki/Osprey_Media "Osprey Media") chain of small English language newspapers mostly based in Ontario. In 2014, after years of cuts and restructuring, Quebecor sold its Sun Media division to [Postmedia](/wiki/Postmedia "Postmedia") which, ironically, had former Sun Media CEO Paul Godfrey as its chief executive. The sale was completed in April 2015 and Sun Media was dissolved with its newspapers being absorbed by the Postmedia chain.


Why did Paul Godfrey purchase Rogers' share of Sun Publishing?