Announcing: Column Acquires Modulist, Expanding to Obits and Classifieds

New York, NY — Column, the fastest-growing public notice software platform, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Forum Communications to acquire Modulist, a software company focused on celebrations, obituaries and announcements. This deal will expand Column’s platform in 2024 to include categories available on Modulist, as well as classifieds.

Since the company’s launch in 2020, Column has deployed its software platform across a network of more than 700 newspapers to facilitate the transaction of public notices and legal ads. Tens of thousands of law firms, government agencies and businesses nationwide benefit from the easy, self-serve experience.

From the CEOs:

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Forum Communications in the acquisition of Modulist,” said Jake Seaton, CEO of Column. “From our first conversation, it was clear that both teams shared the same core values and a mission to provide excellent software for categories of the media business that have historically been underserved and overlooked.”

Column and Forum Communications finalized the agreement in late 2023. Already the companies have started to transition their internal operations. The team welcomed several Modulist employees to Column as part of the acquisition. Current customers and publishing partners of Modulist can expect a seamless and uninterrupted transition in their service.

“The opportunity for Modulist to join forces with Column arose when the nationally recognized software company began collaborating with newspaper companies, focusing on enhancing the experience of placing public notices in both print and online formats,” said Bill Marcil Jr., CEO of Forum Communications. “As we delved into deeper discussions with Column, it became evident that Modulist could seamlessly complement their offerings to newspapers. This aligns perfectly with the categories in which Modulist excels.”

Get in Touch:

If you are a Column customer interested in expanding your service to other categories, contact your account manager for a discussion. Or, reach out to [email protected]. If you are not a Column customer and want to access our new offerings, please schedule a call with us here.