Tribune to Gannett: No thanks, we’re good

Tribune Publishing has brushed off Gannett’s purchase bid like Megan Trainor dismissing an annoying guy on the dance floor.

The troubled owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and a small number of other large dailies said in its earnings call Wednesday that it has rebuffed Gannett’s $815 million, unsolicited offer.

“Tribune Publishing’s board has unanimously determined that Gannett’s opportunistic proposal understates the company’s true value and is not in the best interests of its shareholders,” Tribune said in a statement.

You could almost hear the snippy tone from Tribune, which was angered when Gannett went public with the proposal last month. The USA Today publisher claimed it had not heard back from Tribune after its offer and wanted to force the company to acknowledge the bid.

Does this mean the scuffle for Tribune is over? Hardly. Tribune may just be pressuring Gannett to submit a better offer.

Tribune Publishing-not to be confused with Tribune Media, which houses the broadcast arm of what used to be Tribune Co.—says it has a plan for its newspapers, which lost money in the first quarter.

“Tribune Publishing is in the early stages of a compelling transformation, with a well-defined strategic plan to drive increasing monetization of our important brands, capitalize on the global potential of the LA Times and significantly accelerate our conversion of content to revenue through an enhanced digital strategy,” Tribune CEO Justin Dearborn said in a statement.

It did not outline many details of its plan, but did say it’s starting a new service to sell digital ads called Tronc.

Tags: gannett, newspaper advertising, newspapers, tribune, Tribune Publishing