The family-owned company had been hoping to buy the 156-year-old Gazette along with the other titles in Northcliffe's Kent Regional News and Media's stable. The deal failed when the Office of Fair Trading referred it to the Competition Commission, prompting Northcliffe to close both the Gazette and sister title the Medway News. The final editions were published this week.
The new title - the Sittingbourne News Extra - will go on sale next Wednesday (December 14) with a cover price of 65p. It will be dedicated entirely to Sittingbourne, including seven pages of sport, while 12 columnists have been signed up to write for the paper on a rolling basis.
The KM Group will continue to publish the Sittingbourne Messenger on a Friday, which offers a wider mix of local and county-wide content.
It is being produced by the team behind the 153-year-old Sheerness Times Guardian, with additional journalists being brought in to help on the new paper.
KM Group chairman Geraldine Allinson (pictured) said the company had always believed readers, advertisers and staff would have benefited from the proposed deal to purchase the KRNM titles going ahead.
She added: "We believe there is a real need for a community newspaper serving the people of Sittingbourne, and if the KRNM deal had gone ahead we would certainly have continued to publish the East Kent Gazette.
"The reaction from readers following the decision to close the title, including a well-backed Facebook campaign, gives further support to that view.
"We hope readers and advertisers will support the new title, which will be devoted entirely to the Sittingbourne area. We look forward to providing people with a truly local voice."
Editor Matt Ramsden said: "We are very conscious that people quite rightly had a close bond with the East Kent Gazette and that we cannot hope to replace 156 years of history. However, we hope we can work with the community to deliver a newspaper that, in time, they will think of as their own.
"Most of our team already have very strong ties to the Sittingbourne area and we hope people will welcome this launch."
