Editor’s note: The previous headline on this story, “Gannett’s ‘withhold’ campaign against Tribune Publishing fails,” was incorrect insofar as it overstated the results of today’s shareholder vote. Gannett’s withhold campaign would not have prevented the election of Tribune’s slate of directors; it was a symbolic effort, and the number of “withhold” votes has not yet been disclosed. We regret the error.
Tribune Publishing shareholders decided on Thursday to elect the company’s proposed slate of directors in the face of a campaign organized by the newspaper company Gannett to force a symbolic no-confidence vote.
The vote comes after two all-cash offers by Gannett to acquire Tribune Publishing made in April and May. Both offers were rebuffed by Tribune as the company seeks to institute its own turnaround strategy.
Earlier Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Gannett was leaning toward dropping its takeover bid for Tribune in light of its failed withhold campaign.
Tribune’s most recent offer, made on May 16, valued the company at $864 million, equivalent to $15 a share. The company’s shares were down 3.79 percent to $11.15 in early afternoon trading Thursday.
Correction: A previous version of this story said Gannett was leaning toward dropping its bid for Gannett. In fact, an earlier report said Gannett was considering dropping its bid for Tribune.
