Baylis Media, which also owns the Maidenhead Advertiser and the Slough and Windsor Express newspapers, will keep on The Henley Standard’s offices at Henley’s Caxton House, with Phil Simms continuing as editor.

Some smaller associated titles have also reportedly been sold alongside the Standard, though Printweek has not yet confirmed their sale.

Steve Luker, chairman of the Higgs Group, said the deal would allow the proudly independent Henley Standard to thrive.

He said: “We have come to understand Baylis Media’s commitment to publishing quality local news is a very close fit to ours. Like us, it values its staff, its local community and its customers. 

“We are happy to have reached this agreement that we believe will give our publications the best chance to develop and prosper for many years to come. We are convinced that within the Baylis Group, the Henley Standard and all our publications will have a positive future.”

Higgs Group, which has been owned by Luker family members since around 1900, has owned the Henley Standard since 1919 and published it since the turn of the 20th Century.

“As someone who first started working full-time for Higgs & Co. in 1955, I am naturally a little sad that the Henley Standard will no longer be part of the family company,” said John Luker, who was made honorary life president of the Higgs Group in 2008, after around 30 years at the company’s helm.

“During that time, many local newspapers have been taken over by large groups and, while many tried to keep their identity, they undoubtedly lost their individuality. Although I retired from the board as long ago as 2008, I have always been proud that the Standard has continued for so long as an independent voice for Henley and its environs, due in no small measure to the efforts of successive editors and their loyal staff.

“The new publishers are committed to maintaining the Henley-centric ethos of the paper and are proven supporters of genuine local journalism. I am confident that they will retain this special nature and I look forward to an exciting new era.”

Peter Sands, chair of trustees for the Louis Baylis Charitable Trust, which funded the purchase by Baylis Media, added: “We, as a trust, are very focused on independent local journalism and its function within the communities they serve — to inform, support and, where necessary, to question and investigate on behalf of the people.

“We have a long tradition of serving the local areas in East Berkshire and we are now very pleased to extend that service to South Oxfordshire.”

Higgs Group was advised by local solicitors Blandy & Blandy on the sale.