Bill Appleton, E.W. Scripps Co.’s 74-year-old chief legal officer, is retiring after helping to engineer a blizzard of dealmaking during his 15-year career with the Cincinnati-based media company.

His mergers and acquisitions spree included a landmark deal in 2015 through which Scripps spun off its newspapers to Journal Communications, exiting that industry after 137 years, and received its TV holdings in return. That and other acquisitions have elevated Scripps into the nation’s 10th-largest TV station owner by revenue, according to BIA advisory services, with 61 stations in 41 markets.