Sears lays off 220 employees, mostly at Hoffman Estates headquarters

Meredith Corporation announced that it is teaming up with The Kroger Co.'s media advertising business, Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), to offer a new integrated media service that will help CPG brands make advertising more shoppable. Meredith's offering provides brand advertisers access to Kroger's first-party purchase data and custom audience segments to power media campaigns across its portfolio of 40+ trusted, iconic food and lifestyle brands, including Allrecipes, REAL SIMPLE, EatingWell, PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living. The new integration marks the first time that brand advertisers on Meredith properties will be able to apply closed-loop sales data from Kroger to their campaigns. The service launches at a time when brands need to re-engage consumers whose shopping patterns have been disrupted. Meredith and Kroger Precision Marketing, by matching premium content with sales data, are positioned to influence product discovery, meal planning, product trial, and shopping routines.

David Carey, the president of Hearst Magazines since 2010 and the architect of some of the most successful magazine launches at that company in recent decades, is stepping down at the end of the year, according to the company. Carey will serve next year as a fellow at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, a program designed to give business, government and other leaders a platform for social-impact initiatives. "Under David, we have become a preeminent global digital publishing company while continuing to launch innovative print editions," CEO Steven Swartz said in a memo to employees this morning. "Over the next few months, while continuing to run the group, David will help select the next leader of our magazine company. This kind of orderly transition is a hallmark of Hearst Magazines." Click Read More below for additional information.

Gannett Co., Inc. 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.”