Tennessee Valley Printing Co. Inc. (TVP), of Decatur, has purchased the assets of Want Ads of Huntsville, publisher of American Classifieds and Farm and Ranch in North Alabama, southern Tennessee and northeast Mississippi. W.B. Grimes and Co., a media merger and acquisition company headquartered in Maryland, represented Wants Ads of Huntsville in the sale. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The North Alabama American Classifieds franchise distributes more than 31,000 copies throughout the region and has three zoned print editions in the Huntsville/Decatur area, Shoals/northeast Mississippi and in northeast Alabama near Scottsboro/Guntersville.

American Classifieds is a registered trademark of Senten Inc., franchisor for American Classifieds publications. TVP will continue to utilize the American Classifieds name.

“This is a great addition to our portfolio of products,” said Clint Shelton, president of TVP. “Ed (McNamara) and Eloisa (Chacon) have been great operators and have built a valuable franchise in this market. We want to continue and expand on what they’ve created.”

Want Ads of Huntsville is owned by Bob Christiansen, Ed McNamara and Eloisa Chacon.

“We’ve had 12 great years operating American Classifieds and Farm and Ranch in Huntsville and want to thank our advertisers for their support and our employees for their exemplary service,” said McNamara, president of Want Ads of Huntsville. “TVP is an outstanding regional media company and we are confident our employees and our publications are in great hands.”

There are clear synergies with American Classifieds and TVP in print and online.

TVP operates online websites including TNValleyWheels.com for used and new cars; TNValleyHomeFinder.com for real estate houses for sale; TNValleyStuff.com, a classifieds and merchandise site; plus TNValleyJobFinder.com, a recruitment jobs site in partnership with Monster.com.

Shelton said TVP also will acquire the assets of Pink Elephant LLC, a distribution company for free print products in the Huntsville area, owned by McNamara.

TVP is a privately held media and information company in North Alabama and, with the 31,000 American Classified copies, will reach in excess of 205,000 homes each week. Other properties include: PRINT: The Decatur Daily, Times Daily in the Shoals, Courier Journal, Moulton Advertiser, Madison Weekly News, Hartselle Courier Journal, Decatur Shopping Bag, TNValleyWheels.com print edition; and operator of the Redstone Rocket under contract with the U.S. Army for Redstone Arsenal. ONLINE: TNValleyDeals.com, TNValleyNow.com, TNValleyBrides.com; TNValleySearch.com and six companion sites for its print publications. OUTDOOR: TN Valley Media Outdoor, a 79-face billboard company in North Alabama.