Gannett, owner of Michigan.com and O & E Media, splits in two

Gannett, the parent company of O & E Media and USA TODAY, was officially spun off Monday as a new publicly traded company with a sharper focus on digital growth and innovation as a next-generation media company.

The old Gannett split into two distinct publicly traded companies: TEGNA, which holds more than 40 traditional broadcasting properties and several purely digital enterprises such as Cars.com. The new Gannett has news organizations that publish on print and digital platforms in 92 U.S. markets. They also own 17 daily publications in the U.K.

Gannett's properties in Michigan include the Free Press, Battle Creek Enquirer, Lansing State Journal, Livingston Co. Press & Argus, Observer & Eccentric Media and Port Huron Times Herald.

"Great journalism, great storytelling and focus on community — including helping businesses grow — is really at the core of the new Gannett," said Joyce Jenereaux, president and publisher of the Detroit Free Press. "We are excited to be part of this beginning."

The new Gannett is starting out with minimal debt and a strong cash flow, and it plans to acquire more media assets in the U.S. to boost local advertising and marketing revenue. It also seeks to enhance coordination among journalists at its news outlets across the nation and place greater emphasis on social and mobile news distribution, according to executives and company memos.

Gannett recently purchased 11 media properties in New Mexico, Texas and Pennsylvania.

On the first day of trading Monday, TEGNA closed at $31.63, up $1.52, or about 5%. The new Gannett closed at $14.13, down 77 cents, or about 5.1%.

"The new Gannett is a next-generation media company that exists to empower community," Bob Dickey, president and CEO of Gannett, said in a recent call with analysts and investors. "We do this, in part, by informing the communities we serve, but also in new innovative ways to help those communities connect, act and thrive."

The old Gannett company has been renamed TEGNA and is keeping ownership or control of 46 TV stations nationwide, as well as Cars.com and CareerBuilder.com. The TEGNA name was derived from letters in Gannett.

Plans for Monday's split of the company were first announced last August. Both Gannett and TEGNA share a headquarters in McLean, Va.

In a presentation, executives at new Gannett laid out a vision this month to expand the company's roster of media properties and continue the transformation as a digital-first operation.

The company says it will shop for media properties that serve markets with a population between 500,000 and 3 million.

The new Gannett will pay an annual cash dividend of 64 cents per share and launch a three-year, $150-million share buyback program.