[1] In 1984 Ingersoll Publications Company purchased the free weekly Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis.
Ingersoll used high-risk junk bonds to raise millions of dollars to finance a number of newspaper acquisitions including the $20 million his company needed to launch the St. Louis Sun as a tabloid-style paper.
In 1988 Ingersoll Publications purchased The Alton Telegraph and Mississippi Valley Offset, where the paper would be printed.
[5] Growth of the Sun's circulation nonetheless fell short of the company's expectations in the critical month of April.
The paper's business strategy backfired, cannibalizing ad revenues at its sister publication, the Suburban Journals.