Scripps Aims For Flexibility p. 16

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By: Editorial Staff AN OHIO PROBATE judge has eased restrictions on the Edward W. Scripps Trust, which holds a majority of E.W. Scripps Co. stock.
The move could pave the way for the company to sell more shares to the public and to make future acquisitions, since it will be able to buy with stock.
Under terms set up in 1922 by Edward W. Scripps, the famed Cincinnati media baron, the trust is required to maintain a majority interest in the company.
The trust's power was not an issue until Scripps went public in 1988.
With the first sale of shares a decade ago, the trust maintained a 77% stake, dropping over the past decade to 53%.
Even if the trust reduces its holding below 50%, it will maintain operating control through its two-tiered stock. Though the trust has sold a great deal of common stock, it holds 82% of "control shares" and the power to select a majority of directors.
?(E&P Web Site: http://www.mediainfo. com)
?(copyright: Editor & Publisher March 14, 1998)

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