Gannett updates on debt repayments, buyback of 6% first-lien notes

By Mary-Katherine Stinson

Lexington, Ky., Oct. 5 – Gannett Co., Inc. gave an update on the progress on its debt repayments via real estate and other assets sales as well as the repurchase of approximately $24.8 million of its 6% first-lien notes due Nov. 1, 2026, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a press release.

Subsequent to June 30, the 2026 notes were repurchased for approximately $19.9 million representing a discount to par. The company used proceeds from real estate sales to fund the buyback by obtaining a waiver from certain lenders to apply up to $20 million of sales to the repurchase with the balance of the net cash proceeds to be used to repay amounts under the company’s five-year senior secured term loan facility in accordance with the credit agreement.

Also subsequent to June 30, the company used real estate and other asset sale proceeds totaling $34.7 million and, including its scheduled quarterly amortization of $15.1 million, to repay $55 million of debt.

The company stated in the press release that real estate and other asset sales for 2022 are expected to be in the range of $65 million to $75 million. Gannett currently has approximately $80 million of real estate assets in the sales pipeline.

"Since the acquisition of legacy Gannett in November 2019, we have repaid over $585 million of debt, with $130 million repaid year to date in 2022. We expect to continue optimizing our real estate and asset portfolio as we continue to aggressively pay down debt,” Michael Reed, Gannett chairman and chief executive officer, said in the press release.

Gannett is a McLean, Va.-based media and marketing solutions company.

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