Gannett Co. has gotten an offer to buy the company from
MNG Enterprises, known as Digital First Media, USA Today reports.
Digital First Media offered to purchase USA
Today owner Gannett for $12 a share in an unsolicited offer, the paper reports.
“Consistent with its fiduciary duties and in
consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the Gannett board of
directors will carefully review the proposal received to determine the course
of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and Gannett
shareholders,” the company said in a statement.
“As promised, we will keep you informed as new
information is available, but we are still business as usual,” said Gannett
CEO Robert J. Dickey in an email to employees Monday.
Hedge fund Alden Global Capital is the
majority owner in Digital First. Among its properties are The Denver Post, the
Los Angeles Daily News and the Boston Herald.
“Frankly, the team leading Gannett has not
demonstrated that it’s capable of effectively running this enterprise as a
public company,” said a Digital First letter to Gannett’s board, signed by MNG
chairman Joseph Fuchs. The letter said that Digital First holds a 7.5 percent
ownership stake.
On Dec. 5, Gannett President and CEO Robert J.
Dickey told the company’s board of directors he was retiring. He’s agreed to
stay on until May 7, 2019, but may leave earlier if a successor is named, the
company said.
Gannett’s board hired Zurich-based Egon
Zehnder to evaluate replacement candidates, the company said.
The headhunters may go outside the newspaper
industry, perhaps to digital or e-commerce, according to
the New York Post.
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