For Gannett, the future is now. On Monday, Gannett (GCI) will change the course of its 109-year-old corporate history when it follows what is by now the media industry pattern of splitting into two distinct companies in hopes of boosting stockholder value. “The separation provides each company with enhanced strategic, operating, financial and regulatory flexibility,” Gannett CEO Gracia Martore said last year in announcing the split. The new
These days, media-industry giant Gannett is making plenty of news. McLean, Va.-based Gannett (GCI) on Oct. 20 posted third-quarter earnings that jumped 49% from the year-earlier quarter, as its broadcast and digital businesses compensated for its newspaper operation. Gannett’s $1.5 billion acquisition last year of Belo Corp. went a long way toward redefining the company. It also recently concluded its $1.8 billion acquisition of the 73% of
With readership declining for newspapers and magazines, diversified media companies are shedding their legacy print businesses by way of spinoffs so they can focus on faster-growth opportunities. Gannett (GCI) on Tuesday joined News Corp. (NWS), Time (TIME) and other media firms in the trend of casting off print assets as separate publicly traded companies. In better times, such companies might have sold their print operations, but these days no one is buying. McLean, Va.-based Gannett said it will create two publicly traded companies: one for its broadcasting and digital businesses and one for its publishing businesses. The legacy newspaper business, which includes USA Today and 81 local U.S. daily papers, will retain the Gannett name. The broadcasting and digital business, which will get a shiny new name, includes 46 TV stations and online services like CareerBuilder and Cars.com. Gannett expects to complete the separation by mid-2015. In its public statements,…