The Martha’s Vineyard Times announced Wednesday that the newspaper will come under new ownership in January.

Longtime owner-publishers Peter and Barbara Oberfest are selling the newspaper to Steve Bernier, a well known Island businessman who owned Cronig’s Markets for 35 years, according to an article in the Times. Journalist Charles Sennott will become acting publisher.

The Oberfests originally bought into the paper in 1994 and became full-time owners two decades later.

The story in the Times reported that Mr. Bernier began financially backing the paper during the Covid pandemic. He sold Cronig’s Market to an employee, Andrea Donnelly, last year but remains associated with it.

Mr. Sennott has had a long career in journalism, working for the Boston Globe, co-founding GlobalPost and founding the GroundTruth Project, where he will remain in his role as editor-in-chief while contributing to the Martha’s Vineyard Times part-time, the article said.

The sale was expected to be finalized Sunday. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.