Johnson acquires Lawrence Johnson and his wife, Claire, have reached an agreement to acquire a minority stake in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek, according to David Black, owner of the publications.
stake in Bulletin
The one-time CEO
of Pacific Century joins
4 other isle groupsStar-Bulletin staff
Johnson is past chairman and chief executive officer of Pacific Century Financial Corp. and its principal subsidiary, Bank of Hawaii. He retired in November 2000.
STAR-BULLETIN
Lawrence Johnson, above, and his wife, Claire, are acquiring a minority stake in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek.
"Both my wife and I are very active in the community," Johnson said, and they viewed this investment as another way of giving back to the community.
He emphasized the importance of two editorial voices, adding, "any healthy community needs a healthy media."
Johnson also sees this as a "very good investment opportunity," in part because he believes the state's economy is poised to resume growing. "I'm very optimistic about the future of the state of Hawaii."
Johnson's first association with the Star-Bulletin was as a paperboy, delivering to homes in Manoa. He and his wife, Honolulu natives, have two children and four grandchildren, all of whom live here.
Among his other activities, Johnson serves on the boards of the East-West Center, Hawaii Pacific University, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, the Japan-America Society of Hawaii, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii and Dole Food Co.
Black said he was "pleased that we are going to have someone of such stature and standing in the community" to invest in the company and become a director. "It will strengthen the board to have someone with his background and experience."
Black noted that having local ownership "is a very important element of how newspapering should be done." He also said that he is in discussions with other parties who have approached him about investing in the company.
The Johnsons become the latest local investors in the two publications. In April, Black sold a minority stake to Duane Kurisu, the Luke family, Jeff and Lynn Watanabe, and Island Holdings Inc., represented by Colbert Matsumoto and Franklin Tokioka. As in those transactions, terms of the latest sale were not disclosed.
Johnson will join Kurisu, Warren Luke, Jeff Watanabe and Colbert Matsumoto as a director of Oahu Publications Inc. and MidWeek Printing Inc.
"Larry is a great addition to the ownership group and the board of directors," said Matsumoto. "He is very well-known and well-respected in the community."
