The publisher said it had conditionally acquired the assets for the Scottish newspaper operations of Archant, which include Ayrshire Extra, Fraserburgh Herald and Motherwell Extra.
The deal follows Johnston Press's £160m acquisition of The Scotsman in December 2005. That deal was investigated by the Office of Fair Trading, which allowed it to go through.
Tim Bowdler, chief executive of Johnston Press, said: "This is an attractive portfolio of weekly newspapers, which fits well with our existing titles in their respective areas.
"We look forward to working with the Scottish Archant publishing team to build on an already successful business for the benefit of readers and advertisers in the local communities they serve."
A spokeswoman for Johnston Press told Brand Republic it anticipated there would be contact from the Office of Fair Trading regarding the acquisition because of its large share of the Scottish newspaper market. However, it fully expected the titles to become part of Johnston Press' Scottish Division.
The full list of Archant's Scottish titles acquired by Johnston Press is: Ellon Times & East Gordon Advertiser; Buchan Observer; Fraserburgh Herald; and free weekly newspapers: Ayrshire Extra; Barrhead Extra; Bearsden & Milngavie Extra; Glasgow South & Eastwood Extra; Hamilton Extra; Irvine Extra; Kilmarnock Extra; Motherwell Extra; Paisley & Renfrewshire Extra; Strathaven Extra; West End Extra; and monthly title Asian Extra.
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