Gannett's Billion-Dollar Deal to Buy Tronc Put On Hold

On Wednesday afternoon it looked like Gannett, the largest newspaper chain by circulation in the U.S., was on the cusp of announcing a $1 billion deal to purchase Tronc, the publisher of such well-known papers as The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun.

An announcement had been hoped for this morning, as Gannett prepares for its third-quarter earnings call with investors. The meeting comes at a time when Gannett has just begun a round of major layoffs at newspapers across the country, and when the newspaper chain’s earnings are expected, as they are at peer companies, to be tepid.

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