Gannett offers to buy Tribune Publishing for $815m

Gannett Co, the owner of USA Today, has offered to buy the publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune for $12.25 per share in cash, valuing the company at around $815m.

The offer price for Tribune Publishing is a premium of 63% to its closing price on 22 April and a 58% premium to the volume-weighted average over the last 90 days.

President and chief executive officer Robert J. Dickey said: “We believe Tribune shares the new Gannett’s unwavering commitment to journalistic excellence and delivering superior content on all platforms.

“In this respect, the proposed combination of Gannett and Tribune would bring together two highly complementary organisations with a shared goal of providing trusted, premium content for the readers and communities we serve.”

Gannett said the proposed deal was expected to deliver substantial synergies of around $50m per year, subject to due diligence, that should drive “compelling” near- and long-term growth and value creation at the combined company.

The group, which owns over 100 daily newspapers, said its offer provides Tribune stockholders a “significant premium and immediate and certain value by eliminating the risk associated with Tribune continuing to operate on a standalone basis in an increasingly uncertain time for the industry”.