Monday, December 23, 2013

Statement from Tribune Company CEO Peter Liquori

From: Peter Liguori
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 9:06 AM
Subject: Tribune Announces Agreement To Acquire Gracenote

Today, we are announcing a very exciting acquisition for the company. We have entered into an agreement with Sony Corporation of America to purchase Gracenote, a leading music technology and metadata provider. Gracenote will join forces with Tribune Media Services to extend our core competency in metadata, which is in increasing demand across the globe, and position us for future growth.

You may not be aware of Gracenote, but chances are you are familiar with its service. Gracenote technology is featured in thousands of mobile Apps, including Apple’s iTunes, and in 50 million cars, providing data on more than 180 million music tracks and one million movies and TV shows. It is the most trafficked music data source globally with more than 16 billion look-ups per month. It is a 15 year-old company that has consistently achieved double-digit annual revenue growth for more than a decade.

As we strategically invest in growth areas, increase our scale, and extend our core businesses, Gracenote is an ideal addition to our portfolio. Bringing together Gracenote with Tribune Media Services will create one of the largest entertainment metadata companies in the world.

I want to thank Shashi Seth for his leadership and vision in forging this partnership, and I look forward to welcoming Stephen White and all Gracenote employees to the Tribune family.

We will be issuing the attached press release momentarily.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.

Peter

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