Boston Herald Publisher Patrick J. Purcell announced today that the media company with its flagship Boston Herald tabloid has reached an agreement with GateHouse Media, LLC for them to acquire the company's operational assets. The purchase is subject to court approval.

The announcement came this afternoon as Purcell gathered management and staff in the Herald newspaper's offices on Fargo Street in Boston's Seaport District. He spoke first with his long-time management team and immediately following with staff from across all departments.

In a simultaneous letter to employees, Purcell wrote: "I am very proud of the spectacular management team with whom I have worked hand in hand over the years. And I am equally as proud of the excellent staff in all areas of our company who have worked tirelessly to make the Boston Herald a relevant and respected provider of local and regional news for Boston and the area.

"Boston is a better city for the Herald's unique and fearless local reporting. Because of all of you, we are well known for our influential political, community, business and sports coverage across the region and beyond."

The Herald (BHI), hindered like many other newspapers with significant pension and retirement liabilities as well as declining revenue with the onset of digital media and a growing variety of news originators and aggregators, had some 900 employees at its peak in 2000. Today it has 240; more than 120 of them work in the newsroom.

BHI filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition today in the District of Delaware to maximize the value of the company and its assets by selling the business as a going concern under the supervision of the Bankruptcy Court.

The company contemplates that the sale will allow the operation to continue, providing the greatest stability for employees, customers and vendors; as well as the best return to unsecured creditors.

Purcell told employees gathered that the company would continue its day-to-day operations, providing breaking news to its daily newspaper readers and online consumers as usual.

Purcell, in his letter to employees, also explained, "In addition to great news and advertising coverage for our dedicated readers over the years, all I ever wanted to do was keep the Boston Herald alive. And it is with this pending sale that I am able to do that in these difficult newspapering times. I am certain this is the best pathway forward for you and for the newspaper we have nurtured together, in my case, for the last 33 years."

Purcell was named publisher in 1984 by Rupert Murdoch when News Corp owned the paper. Ten years later, Purcell bought the newspaper, and remains publisher today.

The Boston Herald's roots date back to 1846 when it was a single two-sided sheet of news published by a group of Boston printers. In more recent times, the media company has been anchored by the 64,500-circulation Herald, known for its eye-catching Page 1 photos and headlines, and also has a loyal online following at BostonHerald.com and on its Herald Radio platform.

After several weeks of confidential negotiations, the newspaper company, agreed in principle to sell BHI to the same company that bought Community Newspaper Co. (CNC) from it 11 years earlier. The Herald had purchased CNC in 2001 from Fidelity Investments.

GateHouse Media, headquartered in Pittsford, NY, is one of the largest publishers of locally-based media in the United States. In Massachusetts alone, it publishes the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the Cape Cod Times, The Patriot Ledger and more than 100 other weekly and daily newspapers.

By filing for bankruptcy protections, and even with a purchase agreement with GateHouse, the court requires BHI to hold an auction to allow all potential buyers an opportunity to submit competing offers.