By Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY, 8-5-19

GateHouse Media’s owner and Gannett have agreed to merge in a deal aimed at cutting overlapping costs and enabling the combined company to pursue a digital transformation as the media industry grapples with the disruptive forces of online news, social media and smartphones.

New Media Investment Group said Monday that it reached a deal to acquire Gannett, which owns USA TODAY and more than 100 other daily publications and digital marketing services such as ReachLocal.

Pittsford, New York-based GateHouse, the operating subsidiary of New Media Investment Group, will combine with McLean, Virginia-based Gannett, the larger of the two companies, in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $1.38 billion and financed in part with new private-equity debt.

Together, the two companies would operate more than 260 daily news operations – far more than any other U.S. news publisher – and boast potentially the largest online audience of any American news provider.  » Read More