Gannett Announces Further Real Estate Sales and Debt Repayment

Gannett Co., Inc. (“Gannett”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company”) (NYSE: GCI) today announced that from the beginning of the fourth quarter through the end of this week, the Company will have repaid approximately $647 million of its 11.5% term loan, reducing the outstanding balance to $1.082 billion. The sources of funds for the $647 million of repayment are: $497 million of proceeds from the Company’s issuance of 6% senior secured convertible notes due 2027; Approximately $135 million of real estate and other non-core asset sales; and Approximately $15 million of excess cash sweeps.

“We are pleased to be closing the year having made significant progress to improve our capital structure. The actions we have taken to date have lowered our interest payments by $45 million annually. Our asset sales have accelerated our debt repayment expectations and have increased our confidence in our ability to refinance the remaining term loan during the first half of 2021,” said Michael Reed, Gannett Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Additionally, revenue trends have continued to improve, which we expect will drive strong fourth quarter results and set us up to start the year with strong momentum. Our real estate sales pipeline and amortization payments are expected to further reduce debt by approximately $100 million by early 2021.”

Accounting for recent real estate sales, total debt outstanding is $1.582 billion, which includes the $1.082 billion outstanding term loan, $497.1 million 6% senior secured convertible notes, and $3.3 million of legacy Gannett 4.75% senior secured convertible notes.
https://investors.gannett.com/news/news-details/2020/Gannett-Announces-Further-Real-Estate-Sales-and-Debt-Repayment/default.aspx

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