Rebranding with Content Curation and Visualization Focus to Benefit
60 Million Digital Users
tronc to Begin Trading on Nasdaq on June 20
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 2, 2016--
Tribune Publishing Co. (NYSE:TPUB) today announced that the Company will
change its name to tronc, Inc., a content curation and monetization
company focused on creating and distributing premium, verified content
across all channels. tronc, or tribune online content, captures the
essence of the Company’s mission. tronc pools the Company’s leading
media brands and leverages innovative technology to deliver personalized
and interactive experiences to its 60 million monthly users. The name
change will become effective on June 20, 2016.
The Company also announced that it will be transferring its stock
exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) to The Nasdaq
Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”). tronc expects its common stock to begin
trading as a Nasdaq-listed security under the new ticker symbol “TRNC”
on June 20.
Chairman Michael Ferro said, “Our industry requires an innovative
approach and a fundamentally different way of operating. Our
transformation strategy – which has attracted over $114 million in
growth capital – is focused on leveraging artificial intelligence and
machine learning to improve the user experience and better monetize our
world-class content in order to deliver personalized content to our 60
million monthly users and drive value for all of our stakeholders. Our
rebranding to tronc represents the manner in which we will pool our
technology and content resources to execute on our strategy.”
Earlier this year, the Company announced a plan to transform its
business. Since then, the Company has made important progress, including:
-
Reorganizing the business into new operating and reporting units to
increase transparency and drive corporate focus.
-
Launching troncX, our content curation and monetization engine, to
combine existing assets with new artificial intelligence (“AI”)
technology to accelerate digital growth. The Company conducted a
30-day pilot of its AI efforts involving 1% of its traffic, delivering
a 400% increase in the yield on programmatic revenue.
-
Partnering with Nant Capital and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong to accelerate
the transformation from a legacy news company to a technology and
content company, including gaining access to over 100 machine vision
and artificial intelligence technology patents for news media
applications.
As previously announced, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong also joined the
Company’s Board of Directors today as Vice-Chairman.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong – a highly-regarded
visionary and innovator – to our Board of Directors,” said Ferro. “We
will benefit from Dr. Soon-Shiong’s entrepreneurial spirit and strong
technology expertise as we aggressively implement the changes necessary
to transform the Company and create superior value.”
“I am excited to join the Company as Vice-Chairman during this pivotal
moment of transformation and revitalization,” said Dr. Patrick
Soon-Shiong. “Today’s announcement underscores the Board’s commitment to
completely transform the Company and the industry to protect the vital
role that free speech plays in our communities. In the wake of
significant disruption, it is time to bring the legacy publishing
business into the modern era and leverage innovative technology – from
machine learning to artificial intelligence – to create long-term
sustainability and vitality.”
CEO Justin Dearborn continued, “We are pleased to partner with Nasdaq as
our new stock market listing and are thrilled to be joining other
leading innovators and technology companies listed on the exchange. We
are confident Nasdaq will provide an ideal trading platform for tronc
and cost effective access to a portfolio of tools and services to reach
investors.”
“With its transfer to Nasdaq, tronc and its diverse portfolio of
journalism and digital services joins the media and technology
industries’ most innovative and dynamic leaders listed on the public
markets,” said Nelson Griggs, Executive Vice President, Listing Services
at Nasdaq. “We are proud to welcome tronc to the Nasdaq family and look
forward to our partnership with the Company and its shareholders as the
next phase of its growth strategy begins.”
The Company also plans to launch www.tronc.com,
a visual content portal that will curate tronc’s premium content across
all of its award-winning brands in one convenient place. The Company’s
corporate website and investor relations pages will live within that
platform after the transfer to Nasdaq on June 20.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks and
uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding
Tribune Publishing’s expectations regarding the timing of its name
change and transfer to Nasdaq, the impact of its rebranding, its
long-term growth, and its strategic plan. Statements containing words
such as “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,”
“project,” “will,” “projections,” “continue,” “business outlook,”
“estimate,” “outlook,” or similar expressions constitute forward-looking
statements. Differences in Tribune Publishing's actual results from
those described in these forward-looking statements may result from
actions taken by Tribune Publishing as well as from risks and
uncertainties beyond Tribune Publishing’s control. These risks and
uncertainties include competition and other economic conditions
including fragmentation of the media landscape and competition from
other media alternatives; changes in advertising demand, circulation
levels and audience shares; the Company’s ability to develop and grow
its online businesses; the Company’s reliance on revenue from printing
and distributing third-party publications; changes in newsprint prices;
macroeconomic trends and conditions; the Company’s ability to adapt to
technological changes; the Company’s ability to realize benefits or
synergies from acquisitions or divestitures or to operate its businesses
effectively following acquisitions or divestitures; the Company’s
success in implementing expense mitigation efforts; the Company’s
reliance on third-party vendors for various services; adverse results
from litigation, governmental investigations or tax-related proceedings
or audits; the Company's ability to attract and retain employees; the
Company’s ability to satisfy pension and other postretirement employee
benefit obligations; changes in accounting standards; the effect of
labor strikes, lockouts and labor negotiations; regulatory and judicial
rulings; the Company’s indebtedness and ability to comply with debt
covenants applicable to its debt facilities; the Company’s ability to
satisfy future capital and liquidity requirements; the Company’s ability
to access the credit and capital markets at the times and in the amounts
needed and on acceptable terms; and other events beyond the Company’s
control that may result in unexpected adverse operating results. The
Company’s actual results could also be impacted by the other risks
detailed from time to time in its publicly filed documents, including in
Item 1A (Risk Factors) of its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, in
its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in other reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation
to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
(TPUB-F)
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160602006557/en/
Source: Tribune Publishing Co.
Tribune Publishing Co.
Investor Contact:
Kimbre
Neidhart, 469-528-9366
kneidhart@tribpub.com
or
Press
Contacts:
Dana Meyer, 312-222-3308
dmeyer@tribpub.com
or
Bryan
Locke/Robin Weinberg/Jenny Gore, 312-895-4700
