Gannett Co said on Wednesday it will purchase six television stations in Texas for $215 million, another move by the company to bulk up its local TV station holdings. The company will pay London Broadcasting Co all cash for the deal, expected to close this summer pending regulatory approval.Gannett is the largest newspaper chain in the U.S. but in the past 12 months, it has aggressively been snapping up broadcast TV stations in an effort to diversify its revenue. Last year, Gannett acquired Belo Corp TV stations for $1.5 billion, nearly doubling its TV stations.With this deal, which includes CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates in markets including Waco and Corpus Christi, Gannett will own or operate 46 stations.The company publishes 82 newspapers, including USA Today, but its TV stations are more profitable. Broadcast TV represented 75 percent of Gannett's operating income of about $204 million during the first quarter.
Gannett Co., Inc. is an international media and marketing solutions company, delivering content and services across an integrated, multiplatform portfolio. Shares of GCI fell by 0.36% or $-0.1/share to $27.60. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $19.72 and as high as $30.43. On average, 2079740 shares of GCI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 34361.
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