Gannett has gone public with an $815M offer to buy Tribune Publishing Co., eying strategic and financial benefits of combining the two publishing giants.
Gannett chairman John Jeffry Louis said the board "unanimously believes that the acquisition of Tribune would deliver substantial strategic and financial benefits." It would also advance Gannett's plan to build its USA Today network of journalists in more local markets and new platforms.
Gannett forecasts savings of around $50M.
Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Times and spun off from Tribune Co. in 2014, responded to Gannett's overtures via letter last week to say it hired financial advisors to conduct a thorough review. The company said today that it is reviewing the bid with advisors "and will respond to Gannett as quickly as feasible."
Gannett's $12.25 per share cash offer includes $390M of Tribune debt and marks a 58% premium on Tribune shares as of April 22. President and CEO Robert Dickey added the deal "would bring together two highly complementary organizations with a shared goal of providing trusted, premium content for the readers and communities we serve."
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher is supporting Gannett on the PR front regarding the proposed deal. Amber Allman is VP of corporate comms. for Gannett.
Sard Verbinnen & Co. is working with Tribune on the PR front. D.F. King & Co. is bolstering IR.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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