Gannett, Gatehouse talking merger

Maybe he’ll use that money for nice employee bonuses?

 

Does anyone expect GannettHouse stock to rise? They've already burned the furniture to heat the house.

 

Well, of course!

 

In a vacuum, they’d buy more houses and burn their furniture, but Digital First has built a formidable backfire. Real estate is growing tight. There’s a few family owned targets out there where some Gen Y heirs can be money whipped.

 

"Digital First has built a formidable backfire."

Damn that's a great line.

 

Has this gentleman ever spent a day in an actual newsroom (other than when he was there to lay off reporters and editors, I mean)?

 

Is that a proportion wheel in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

 

I still have my pica pole. Heck of a back scratcher.

 

Pica poles became obsolete as cake-cutters when they stopped having going-away parties for all of the employees who were laid off/took buyouts.

 

I bought one last year and have it taped to one of the monitors. Those things are expensive now, like $10 or $12.

 

Maybe this deal does not go down.

https://nypost.com/2019/08/07/new-m...ay-owner-gannett-is-hanging-on-for-dear-life/

Prominent Gatehouse investors are upset that the dividend is being cut by 50% to pay off the loan. The CEO of Gatehouse is telling investors he will sell off 200 million dollars of properties (to who?) and pay off the Apollo loan in three years.

The company claims that it will have "adjusted EBITDA" this year of 500 million. The word adjusted in this context is a synonym for padded. For example, in Gatehouse's definition of "adjusted EBITDA" they treat severance and reorganizations costs as a non-recurring cost. But why? The company fires people and reorganized as regularly as they pay the light bill. It is their business plan.

But we will use the 500 million dollar number. Interest on the new loan will be 300 million dollars a year. Revenues at Gatehouse and Gannett are declining at the rate of $300 million dollars a year. Do the arithmetic.

As for increasing revenues there is evidently a hiring freeze at Gatehouse. The Oklahoman's new OSU writer was supposed to start Monday but had his offer rescinded. Does this mean Oklahoma City will not have an OSU beat writer?

 

They have one. It's Scott Wright. So instead of two they will have one.