Gannett Acquires Equity Stake In SPACE.com
Gannett Co., Inc. and
SPACE.com, Inc. today announced the formation of a strategic media
partnership in which Gannett becomes an equity investor in SPACE.com
and SPACE.com acquires Gannett’s space media properties for its
portfolio of publishing, broadcast, Web and software businesses.
Gannett and SPACE.com have signed a definitive agreement in which
SPACE.com acquires Space News newspaper, and spacenews.com and FLORIDA
TODAY’s Space Online Web sites. Under the agreement, Gannett will
provide cash investment, and the substantial marketing and promotional
support of its media assets including USA TODAY, and the company’s
regional newspapers, broadcast outlets and Internet properties, in
exchange for an interest in SPACE.com. Financial details regarding the
transaction were not disclosed. Closing is expected in November.
“We feel the combination of the assets of SPACE.com with Space
News and Space Online will create a clear leader in delivering
multimedia news and information about space,” said Douglas H.
McCorkindale, President and CEO of Gannett. “Gannett and its
shareholders will benefit from the partnership.”
“Space News and FLORIDA TODAY’s Space Online are powerful
additions to SPACE.com’s growing roster of media assets focused on
space and aerospace,” said SPACE.com Chairman and CEO Lou Dobbs. “We
are proud to have Gannett as our strategic partner and we believe our
relationship will accelerate the extension of our multimedia brand
strategy.”
Space News, the only newsweekly publication dedicated entirely to
space, is the authoritative global business news source for
decision-makers and opinion-leaders in industry, military and
government. Spacenews.com provides daily space business updates. Space
News’ editorial coverage ranges from space policies, politics,
legislation, business and finance to satellite communications, new
products and advanced technologies. The FLORIDA TODAY Space Online Web
site features daily space news focusing on Cape Canaveral, major
rocket launch information, special reports and more.
Gannett Co., Inc.
Gannett Co., Inc. is an international news and information company
that publishes 99 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY,
the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns in
excess of 300 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a
weekly newspaper magazine. In the United Kingdom, Gannett subsidiary
Newsquest plc publishes nearly 300 titles, including 15 daily
newspapers. Gannett also operates 22 television stations in the United
States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by most of its
TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most
popular news sites on the Web.
SPACE.com, Inc.
SPACE.com is the first multimedia company dedicated to space and
space related content and serving its audience on a wide variety of
platforms. Anchored on the Web, the company has rapidly expanded
across media with its print and software offerings. SPACE.com, the
definitive space Web site, offers the richest and most compelling
content, featuring news, information, education, entertainment, games,
science fiction and a kids’ channel. SPACE.com is also at the
forefront of broadband content and technology, having launched the
broadband channel Space TV on the Real.com Network. SPACE.com
publishes SPACE Illustrated magazine which conveys the wonder of
humankind’s greatest adventure through spectacular space imagery and
content, and Space Business International, the leading business to
business international space publication. The company also publishes
Starry Night(TM), the country’s leading software line for amateur
astronomers. SPACE.com is headquartered in New York City with offices
and news bureaus in Washington D.C.; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Houston,
Texas; Pasadena, Calif.; Cary, N.C.; Toronto, Canada; London, UK and
Tokyo, Japan.
