Globe to print 2 rivals' papers

The Boston Globe will soon use the presses at its Dorchester plant to print newspapers for two of its competitors, The Patriot Ledger, of Quincy, and The Enterprise, of Brockton, under a five-year contract disclosed yesterday.

Terms of the deal between The New England Media Group, the division of The New York Times Co. that operates the Globe, and GateHouse Media Inc., which owns the Ledger and the Enterprise, were not disclosed.

Printing will begin in the fall after negotiations are completed with the Ledger and Enterprise press unions, said Bob Powers, a Globe spokesman.

"It's a good revenue opportunity for us," he said.

Kirk Davis, president and publisher of GateHouse Media New England, did not respond to a telephone message yesterday.

GateHouse, a national chain of suburban papers headquartered in Fairport, N.Y., picked up the Ledger and Enterprise last year as part of a package of 124 suburban weekly and daily newspapers around Boston it put together in two deals worth a combined $400 million.

The Globe competes directly with those GateHouse publications.

New England Media Group has three press plants to print the Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and the New England editions of The New York Times. In addition to the Dorchester facility, the other two are in Millbury and Billerica, Powers said.

New England Media Group has expanded its commercial printing business in recent years.

It began printing the New York Daily News for New England distribution in 2005, and last year added Boston Metro, which is partly owned by Times Co., and some editions of the New York Post.

Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com.