Gannett today announced that it has increased its offer to acquire Tribune Publishing Company to $15.00 per share from $12.25 per share – a 22.5% increase.
The move comes after its initial bid was rejected and Tribune adopted a “poison pill” plan to block the offer.
Revised after Gannett met with Tribune shareholders last week, the new offer represents a premium of 99% to Tribune’s closing price of $7.52 per share on April 22, the last trading day before Gannett publicly announced its initial offer for Tribune.
The total value of the revised offer is about $864 million, including the assumption of Tribune’s $385 million of debt, according to Gannett.
Gannett’s new offer is a result of additional review of Tribune’s most recent 10-Q filing on May 5, including debt, cash balance and pension liabilities, the company said Monday.
