MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — The parent company of the Marietta Daily Journal has purchased the Rome News Publishing Company at a bankruptcy auction.

Times-Journal Inc. bought the publisher of the Rome News-Tribune for $3.05 million during an open auction Thursday in Carrollton, beating out to competing bidders. The sale remains subject to approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Grace Deal, who has scheduled a hearing Jan. 28.

Rome News Publishing Co. filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in January 2013. The sale includes the Rome News-Tribune as well as Georgia weekly papers Calhoun Times, Walker County Messenger, Catoosa County News and the Polk County Standard Journal. It also includes the weekly Cherokee County Herald published in Alabama.

Times-Journal Inc. Publisher Otis Brumby III will take over for the Rome News-Tribune's third-generation owner, Burgett H. Mooney III. The Marietta Daily Journal and the Rome News-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/17PUOqG) that Mooney will stay involved as a consultant for at least 20 months.

"We want to acknowledge our family's long friendship and association with the Mooney family and their historical and continued contributions to Rome, northwest Georgia and our state," Brumby said. "The Rome News-Tribune has a storied history of newspaper excellence, and we are excited about the opportunity to continue in that tradition."

In addition to the Marietta Daily Journal and the Cherokee Tribune, Times-Journal Inc. and publishes 22 Neighbor community newspapers and two monthly magazines.

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