Gannett Reiterates Commitment To Tribune Publishing Deal

(RTTNews) - Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI)commented on Tribune Publishing Company's (TPUB) May 4, 2016 rejection of Gannett's all-cash premium proposal to acquire the entire Tribune company for $12.25 per share.

Gannett noted that the purportedly comparable trading values and comparable acquisition multiples presented in the Tribune rejection letter on May 4, 2016 are misleading because they are based on inappropriate selections of public companies and transactions. If Tribune's Board and advisors view Gannett's $12.25 per share proposal to be undervalued, the Tribune Board should release its analysis to Tribune shareholders to justify its issuance of shares to Michael Ferro at $8.50 per share in February 2016.

John Jeffry Louis, Chairman of the Gannett Board of Directors, said, "This announcement reaffirms our concern from the outset that Tribune's Board never intended to engage with us, necessitating that we make our proposal public. It is unfortunate that Tribune's Board would deny their shareholders this compelling, immediate and certain cash value by rejecting our offer without making a counterproposal or otherwise negotiating or providing any constructive feedback. Our requests for access to due diligence that may enable us to improve our proposal continue to be denied to the detriment of Tribune's stockholders."

Gannett noted that it has the financial capacity to fund this all-cash offer and Board and management team are ready to negotiate a transaction with Tribune and committed to making this a reality.

Gannett said that it has initiated a proxy campaign to solicit "withhold" votes in connection with the election of all eight nominees to the Tribune Board. This campaign will allow all Tribune stockholders the opportunity to send a clear message to Tribune's Board that it should substantively engage with Gannett regarding its proposal. Send a clear message to the Tribune Board: Vote "WITHHOLD" for each nominee."