Gannett Rejects $12.00/shr Buy-out Proposal From MNG Enterprises

(RTTNews) - Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI) announced that its board has unanimously rejected MNG Enterprises Inc.'s unsolicited proposal, received on January 14, 2019, to acquire Gannett for $12.00 per share in cash. The Gannett board concluded that MNG's unsolicited proposal undervalues Gannett and is not in the best interests of Gannett and its shareholders. In addition, Gannett does not believe MNG's proposal is credible.

Gannett noted that MNG's actions - both before and since its public approach - suggest that MNG's proposal is not credible. Despite its assertions to the contrary, MNG never sought to engage with Gannett regarding an acquisition of the company prior to the appearance of The Wall Street Journal article on January 13, 2019, or prior to Gannett's receipt of MNG's letter and MNG's public announcement on January 14, 2019, despite the fact that MNG and Gannett management are well known to one another and in fact are partners in significant operations.

MNG Enterprises Inc., shareholder of Gannett Co., Inc., with a 7.5% ownership stake, today issued statement in response to Gannett's rejection of its proposal to acquire Gannett for $12.00 per share in cash. The proposal represents a 41% premium to where Gannett stock closed at year-end 2018, before the price was affected by MNG's purchases and public proposal.

MNG stated that Gannet has no credible plan to achieve $12 per share valuation on its own. Gannett has tried to create the illusion that it was open to true engagement, but never did so seriously.

MNG said, "Gannett's Board today sent shareholders a clear message: that it intends to block immediate and certain value creation opportunities in favor of a speculative future engineered by the team that already has destroyed over 40% of the Company's value. Gannett's long-suffering shareholders cannot afford to wait any longer. The only responsible course is for Gannett to engage in a genuine pursuit to maximize value, either from MNG or others with reported interest."