Gannett raises bid price for rival Tribune, offers 99% premium

Publishing group Gannett upped the ante in its bid to acquire rival Tribune Publishing Company, raising the amount of its all-cash offer for the entire company by 22.4% to $15.00 per share.

The new bid, worth approximately $864m, represented a 99.0% premium to Tribune’s closing share price on 22 April, the day before the owner of the USA Today title launched its first bid.

“Our increased offer demonstrates our commitment to engaging in serious and meaningful negotiations with the Tribune Board to reach a mutually agreeable transaction where Gannett acquires all of Tribune. It is evident from our discussions with Tribune shareholders that there is overwhelming support for the companies to engage immediately regarding our proposed transaction.

“By increasing our offer at this time, we are reaffirming Gannett’s belief that this transaction would deliver significant value to both companies’ stakeholders and that the time to act is now. We encourage Tribune’s shareholders to send a clear message to their Board to engage immediately with Gannett regarding our revised all-cash, premium offer,” John Jeffry Louis, chairman of the Gannett board of directors, said in a statement.

Virginia, USA-based Gannett said the new bid reflected additional analysis undertaken of Tribune’s debt, cash position and pension liabilities included in its financial statements which were filed on 5 May.

Gannett also now had “greater confidence” in its ability to achieve bigger operational improvements in the transaction.

As of 12:30 BST shares in Gannett were rising 22.06% to $14.00 in pre-market trading on the NYSE.