Catharine Richert

MPR News/90.1 FM

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.