Gannett refutes chances of ownership change

13 August 2007

Mumbai: Gannett Co. Inc, which owns USA Today, has refuted speculative press reports that the biggest US newspaper publisher is preparing for an ownership change.

Responding to a recent blog entry in The Wall Street Journal, Gannett CEO Craig Dubow said there is no basis in the report which suggested that changes to some employee compensation plans might well lead to the sale of the publisher itself.

In a memorandum to employees, Dubow said there is no move to divest shares of the company.

Gannett has been the subject of analyst speculation that it could go private.

Gannett, however, has been seeing a drop in advertising sales and paid circulation as readers migrated to the internet.