Gannett is now the majority owner of CareerBuilder – but just barely at 50.8%. It paid $135 million to buy 10% from Tribune Company, which still owns 30.8%. “This transaction offers us an excellent opportunity to monetize some of the value CareerBuilder has built over the years, while enabling us to maintain a significant stake in a great online property,” said Tribune CEO Sam Zell. “We were delighted when the opportunity arose to acquire more of the company while maintaining a good, solid relationship with our partners,” said Gannett CEO Craig Dubow, so it appears to be a win-win deal.
Here’s how the ownership of the online job site works out now: Gannett’s stake has grown to 50.8%; Tribune now owns 30.8% of CareerBuilder; The McClatchy Company continues to own 14.4%; and Microsoft continues to own 4%. Under the new ownership agreement, Gannett has three seats on the six-seat CareerBuilder board of directors. Tribune and McClatchy have one seat each and the CEO of CareerBuilder, Matt Ferguson, has one seat.
