Activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 6.6 percent stake in Gannett Co Thursday and revealed that he planned to push the media company to split into separate print and broadcast firms before Gannett beat him to it, a regulatory filing showed.Icahn, a billionaire investor who is known for taking large stakes in companies and pushing for management change, said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that his firm had taken the stake on the belief that Gannett's shares were undervalued and that splitting the company could unlock value.Icahn reported the stake of roughly 15 million shares as of Aug. 4, one day before Gannett announced that it would spin off its print operations, including USA Today, becoming the latest media company to separate faster-growing TV and digital properties from publishing assets.Icahn said in the filing that he had not spoken to Gannett prior to Thursday. He added, however, that his firm still intended to speak with the company's management and board of directors about its planned split, corporate governance, capitalization, and capital allocation.
Gannett Co., Inc., is an international media and marketing solutions company, delivering content and services across an integrated, multiplatform portfolio. Shares of GCI traded higher by 0.06% or $0.02/share to $34.05. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $23.75 and as high as $35.70. On average, 2143040 shares of GCI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2921333.
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