E.W. Scripps Co. – owner of Denver television station KMGH-Denver 7 – is acquiring KOAA-News5 in Colorado Springs and 14 other stations in a $521 million deal that will divest KOAA owner Cordillera Communications of all of its broadcasting properties.

St. Paul, Minn.-based Cordillera said that “an evolving broadcast industry requires an ability to scale for the future.”

The company said it selected Cincinnati-based Scripps and Quincy Media, which is buying Cordillera’s Tucson, Ariz., television station, as buyers after “an auction process that generated significant interest from established parties throughout the country.” The deal is set for completion in the first quarter of next year.

The transaction is not expected to affect programming or employees in the near term, though Scripps declined to comment on whether changes are anticipated after the deal is completed.

KOAA President and General Manager Evan Pappas said Scripps “offers us advancements in cutting-edge digital products and more resources for new content. We are all very excited over what will develop over the next 12 months to service all involved in this transition. We are going to be working for another dedicated news and information broadcaster on all platforms.”

Pappas said Scripps offers “a culture very similar to our previous owners. Both family-owned and very committed to community service and high standards in news, client sales results and overall ethical standards.”

KOAA is the NBC affiliate for the Colorado Springs and Pueblo area and operates studios in both cities with a combined staff of 100.

It has traditionally been a news partner with its sister NBC affiliate in Denver, KUSA-9News, owned by McLean, Virginia-based Tegna Inc. KUSA is a KMGH competitor in the Denver market.

(KOAA is a news partner of The Gazette and KUSA is a news partner of Colorado Politics. Both The Gazette and CoPo are owned by Denver-based Clarity Media Group.)

Cordillera’s deal with Scripps also includes one station each in Billings, Mont.; Lafayette, La.; Lexington, Ky.; and Santa Barbara, Calif.; two stations in Corpus Christi, Texas, and in Butte-Bozeman, Missoula, Great Falls and Helena, Mont. The other stations combined have about 600 employees.

“These two buyers represent the best possible scenario: They are poised to grow the stations and empower them to compete in this changing media landscape, and more importantly, they will provide a great home and opportunities for the dedicated employees of Cordillera,” said Terry Hurley, the company’s president.

Cordillera is the broadcasting arm of Evening Post Industries, a media company based in Charleston, S.C., that also owns the Post and Courier in Charleston and six other newspapers in South Carolina as well as a marketing agency, forestry company, real estate holdings, a dermatology products company and a hospice provider.

Scripps owns 33 television stations in 18 states, including Denver’s KMGH, an ABC affiliate, as well as four cable television networks, an advertising network, a podcasting operation and a collection of national journalism and content businesses that include Newsy.

The company got its start in the newspaper business and owned the former Rocky Mountain News in Denver. It closed that major daily newspaper in 2009.