01 Oct Tribune Media Closes Sale of 27.8% Stake in Classified Ventures to Gannett
Tribune Media Company (OTC:TRBAA) today announced that it and the remaining partners in Classified Ventures, LLC (CV), have completed the sale of their entire stakes in CV to Gannett Co., Inc. CV, whose primary asset is the online car shopping website Cars.com, is a joint venture among Tribune Media, McClatchy, Gannett, Graham Holdings Company and A. H. Belo Corporation. Tribune Media owned 27.8% of CV.
Gross proceeds to the selling partners were $1.8 billion. Proceeds to Tribune Media, net of transaction costs paid by CV were $686 million, $28 million of which will be held in escrow until Oct. 1, 2015. After tax proceeds to Tribune Media are expected to be $424 million. Prior to the transaction closing, CV distributed $6.5 million to Tribune Media related to cash accumulated from earnings from CV.
Tribune Media expects to record a gain on the sale of its interest in CV in the fourth quarter of 2014, and anticipates paying transaction related taxes in first quarter of 2015.
Moelis & Company acted as the financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom acted as legal advisor to the selling partners on the transaction.
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Tribune Media Company (OTC:TRBAA) is home to a diverse portfolio of television and digital properties driven by quality news, entertainment and sports programming. Tribune Media is comprised of Tribune Broadcasting’s 42 owned or operated local television stations reaching 50 million households, national entertainment network WGN America, available in 72 million households, Tribune Studios, and Tribune Digital Ventures, including the websites Zap2it and TVByTheNumbers, and Gracenote, one of the world’s leading sources of TV and music metadata powering electronic program guides in televisions, automobiles and mobile devices. Tribune Media also includes Chicago’s WGN-AM, the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV. Additionally, the company owns and manages a significant number of real estate properties across the U.S. and holds other strategic investments in media. For more information please visit www.tribunemedia.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Christa Robinson
Chief Communication Officer
212/210-2794
christa@tribunemedia.com
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Donna Granato
VP/Corporate Finance, Investor Relations
212/210-2703
dgranato@tribunemedia.com