Gannett Acquires Majority Stake in CareerBuilder

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 3, 2008 - 8:17am.

McLean, Va. - Gannett (NYSE: GCI), the publisher of USA Today and 84 other daily newspapers, said on Wednesday that it has paid $135 million to Tribune for an additional 10% stake in CareerBuilder, giving the company a controlling interest in the country's largest online job site. Gannett now owns 50.8% of CareerBuilder.

"We were delighted when the opportunity arose to acquire more of the company while maintaining a good, solid relationship with our partners," said Craig Dubow, the chairman, president and CEO of Gannett.

"We don't expect any major changes."

Tribune now owns 30.8% of CareerBuilder, with The McClatchy Company (14.4%) and Microsoft (4%) also retaining their minority stakes.

CareerBuilder's site draws more than 23 million unique visitors a month, and the company also powers the online job search centers for more than 1,000 partners, including 150 newspapers, AOL and MSN.

http://www.careerbuilder.com