Andrew Denholm’s National Media has sold the Wairarapa Times-Age to Stuff after a decades-long relationship with rival NZME, formerly APN New Zealand.

Denholm and journalists and commercial staff at the Masterton, New Zealand regional will join Stuff in a move it says will bring the title closer to its neighbouring Stuff mastheads the Manawatū Standard and the Taranaki Daily News.

Established in 1938 through the merger of the Daily Times and the Age, the paper was acquired by Wilson & Horton in 2002, and passed to APN and NZME. Denholm brought it back to Wairarapa ownership when he acquired it in 2016, but maintained a content-sharing agreement with NZME.

Denholm said he was delighted Stuff had added the Wairarapa Times-Age to its regional footprint: “This has been a challenging time for a standalone publication.

“The way audiences are consuming local news is changing and Stuff’s scale and experience in delivering great journalism, in the formats that audiences want, is second to none.”

Stuff Group chief executive Laura Maxwell said the acquisition would bring Stuff’s scale, support systems and broad commercial opportunities to the Masterton-based business while ensuring strong local journalism and a deep connection to the community remained. “We are particularly pleased that owner Andrew Denholm will join Stuff in a new role, continuing to drive the success of the WTA locally,” she said.

National Media will retain its New Zealand Memories magazine.

The move comes after NZME bought the Muir family’s Gisborne Herald in March, a week after its purchase of Bay of Plenty publisher Sun Media and its three community newspapers.

Pictured: The Times-Age’s Art Deco-inspired building in Masterton.