GateHouse shares surge on first day of trading

Shares of GateHouse Media Inc., a newspaper company that owns many papers in Boston's suburbs, surged today in their first day of trading.

At midafternoon, shares traded at $21.30 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 18 percent from the initial price of $18.

The jump in GateHouse shares comes as many publicly traded newspaper chains have struggled as readers and advertising dollars have migrated to the Internet.

Based in Fairport, N.Y., GateHouse expanded its portfolio of newspapers earlier this year when it acquired four dailies, 93 weeklies, and other papers from Community Newspaper Co., which was owned by Boston Herald publisher Pat Purcell.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)