Gannett, the owner of USA Today, has merged with and been acquired by New Media Investment Group, the owner of Gatehouse Media, in a deal worth $1.38 billion.
New Media Investment Group said Monday its operational subsidiary, Pittsford, New York-based Gatehouse, had reached a deal to acquire McLean, Virginia-based Gannett, the larger of the two companies, in the hopes of cutting costs and revamping the company digitally.
Gannett, which publishes more than 100 newspapers in 34 states and 160 online news brands in the U.K., locally owns eight dailies in the state, including:
- The Asbury Park Press and APP.com, in Neptune;
- The Courier-News, in Bridgewater;
- The Courier-Post, in Cherry Hill;
- The Daily Journal, in Vineland;
- The Daily Record, in Morristown;
- The Home News Tribune in East Brunswick;
- The Record, in Bergen County.
- The Herald News, in Woodland Park.
NMIG, which operates in 612 markets across 32 states, publishes the Willingboro-based Burlington County Times and Somerset-based NJBIZ.
Under terms of the merger, Gannett shareholders will receive $6.25 in cash and 0.5427 of a New Media share for each Gannett share they own. After the deal has closed, Gannett shareholders will own approximately 49.5% of the combined company and New Media shareholders will hold about 50.5%.
