The consolidation of Honolulu's two rival dailies is expected to begin one minute after midnight on Monday when Honolulu Star-Bulletin owner Black Press concludes its purchase of The Honolulu Advertiser from Gannett Co.

Both papers will continue to operate and be distributed for 30 to 60 days until Black Press' subsidiary, Oahu Publications Inc., is ready to introduce its new daily broadsheet, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, said Dennis Francis, Star-Bulletin publisher and Oahu Publications president.

Subscribers will continue to get both publications until they seamlessly transition to the new product, he said, and current subscriptions will be honored. The company also will extend subscriptions for those who take both papers, combining time left on the two subscriptions with no additional charge.

The 580 Advertiser workers who accepted at-will job offers from HA Management, the company hired by Oahu Publications to handle the transition, will continue to work from 605 Kapiolani Blvd. until the consolidation.

Star-Bulletin employees will work from their Waterfront Plaza headquarters, which also will be the Star-Advertiser's home. Once Oahu Publications determines staffing needs, job offers and layoffs will occur, Francis said. The Star-Advertiser's overall staffing will fall somewhere between the 300-person Star-Bulletin and the 600-person Advertiser, he said.

“;While the Star-Advertiser's newsroom won't likely be the size of the current Advertiser newsroom, it will be the largest news gathering staff in the state of Hawaii by a long shot,”; he said, adding that Oahu Publications will honor the Star-Bulletin's contracts and will recall the union workers it laid off last year before adding other newsroom hires.

The Star-Advertiser, which will include characteristics and staff from both publications, will become the biggest newspaper owned by Canada-based Black Press, Francis said.

“;Our full expectation is to be a healthy, profitable newspaper for many years to come,”; he said.

The newspaper's paid circulation would surpass the Advertiser's official audit for the sixth-month period ended March 31, which recorded an average daily circulation of 110,000 and a Sunday circulation of 123,000, Francis said. He estimated the Star-Advertiser's paid circulation would be 135,000 to 140,000 daily and 155,000 to 165,000 Sunday.

“;Our penetration will reach over 50 percent of the households—that's one of the highest levels in the country,”; he said, adding that advertising rates would reflect the paper's broader reach.

The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal has been Star-Bulletin owner David Black's largest daily paper. While Black is also a consultant for Platinum Equity LLC, the owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune, most of his papers are weeklies in western Canada.

The U.S. Justice Department cleared Black's acquisition of the Advertiser on Monday. Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman for the department's antitrust division, said officials determined that the purchase was “;unlikely to substantially reduce competition because the division determined that the Star-Bulletin satisfied the failing firm test.”;

Justice officials sought to determine “;if anyone would buy the Star-Bulletin at a price equal to or greater than the liquidated value of the paper's assets and provide adequate capital to assure its continued operation,”; Talamona said.

While a few parties submitted bids, they were well below the liquidated value, she said.