USA Today owner Gannett Co. and Journal Media Group (JMG), owner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said the U.S. Justice Department has requested additional information over Gannett's planned purchase of Journal Media.

The deal worth about $280 million was announced Oct. 7. The transaction is a sign that a long-awaited round of consolidation in the beleaguered publishing industry may be under way.

Gannett and Journal Media still expect to close the deal in the first quarter of 2016. The companies also said they expect to continue working with the Justice Department.

Journal Media was created this year from a complex deal that combined the newspaper assets of E.W. Scripps and Journal Communications. Its other titles include the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Naples Daily News.

Journal Media said last week that third-quarter non-GAAP revenue fell 8.3% to $110.3 million, as advertisers continued to reduce spending in the quarter.

In late October, Gannett reported third-quarter revenue fell 8.6% to $701.2 million.

Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 20, 2015 18:25 ET (23:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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