Gannett Media, owner of newspapers such as USA Today, has ended its pursuit of Tronc, the publisher of newspapers such as the LA Times and Chicago Tribune according to a statement from Gannett.
“Gannett Co., Inc. (‘Gannett’ or the ‘Company’) today confirmed that the Company has been engaged in discussions with tronc, Inc. (’tronc’) regarding a potential transaction and has determined not to pursue an acquisition of tronc,” said the statement.
On Thursday, a report from Bloomberg said that the deal had hit a snag as banks involved in the financing had backed out due to the proposed deal price of $18.75 per share.
Tronc, known as Tribune Publishing until a change in June, has been in the midst of a large scale rebrand to pivot towards online media and video.
In response to the news, tronc shares were down by 18.95% as of 10:20 a.m ET.