On May 3, 2010, a new company set up by Black Press, HA Management, took over operations of the Advertiser and merged it with the Star-Bulletin on June 7, 2010, to form the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Businessman and son of Congregational missionaries, Henry M. Whitney founded the Pacific Commercial Advertiser in 1856, a weekly newspaper that was circulated primarily in the whaling port of Honolulu.

The inaugural edition was published on July 2 of that year with this statement from Whitney: Thank Heaven, the day at length has dawned when the Hawaiian nation can boast a free press, untrammeled by government patronage or party pledges, unbiased by ministerial frowns or favors.

The first issue of PCA, as the weekly was quickly nicknamed, had a print run of 600 copies and was produced on a hand press.

Throughout the paper, Whitney posted fifty-two advertisements for sailing ships in port at Honolulu Harbor with three hundred vessel timetables.

In 1870, Whitney went broke and was forced to sell the Commercial Advertiser to James Black and William Auld, local printers.

In 1880, Black and Auld sold the Pacific Commercial Advertiser to cabinet minister Walter M. Gibson, who was generally under financial control of Claus Spreckels.

[5]: 221 Vehemently opposed to Spreckels's conservative and pro-monarchy political stance, Whitney, as a devout annexationist, resigned as editor.

Spreckels's royalist slant in his editorial articles were deplored by many of the American businessmen residing in Hawaiʻi at the time.

If no buyer came forward by March 29, 2010, Black Press started making preparations to operate both papers through a transitional management team and then combine the two dailies into one.

Black Press canceled the sale as a result and proceeded with transition plans, which came on the same day that they were approved to take over the Advertiser by the Department of Justice.

Employees and staff moved over to the "Star-Advertiser" offices at Restaurant Row and to the Kapolei facility, leaving the building vacant except for a small crew to remove most of the equipment and items in preparation for its sale.