Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The five are Colbert M. Matsumoto and Franklin M. Tokioka of Island Holdings Inc.; Duane K. Kurisu, partner in local real estate investment firm Kurisu & Fergus; and the families of Warren K.K. Luke and Jeffrey Watanabe.

Kurisu also is chairman of Pacific Basin Communications LLC, a locally-owned media company with four magazines and one radio station; Watanabe is a partner in the law firm of Watanabe, Ing & Kawashima; Luke is chairman and chief executive of Hawaii National Bancshares; Matsumoto is president of Island Holdings, the parent company of Island Insurance Co.; Tokioka is chairman of Island Holdings.

As part of the deal, Kurisu, Luke, Watanabe and Matsumoto will become directors of Oahu Publications Inc. and Midweek Printing Inc., owners of the Star-Bulletin and MidWeek.

While declining to reveal the value of the investment, Black said it will retire all of the company’s debt. The investment won’t affect the bottom line, he said, but “it gives you a better feeling going to bed at night.”

The investment represents the first time that there will be local shareholders in the Star-Bulletin since businessman Chinn Ho and his group held ownership in the 1970s.

Black said that no further capital investments are planned.

Gannett Co. Inc. owned the Star-Bulletin until 1993, when it bought The Honolulu Advertiser and sold the Star-Bulletin to Liberty Newspapers.

Black took over the Star-Bulletin last year after buying it from Liberty Newspapers LP, which announced in September 1999 that it planned to close the paper because of declining circulation.

In 2000, Black purchased RFD Publications, owner of MidWeek, the state’s largest weekly newspaper.