Reports: Gannett To Buy Rest Of Cars.com For $1.8 Bln

(RTTNews) - Media holding company Gannett Co. (GCI) is nearing a deal to buy out the remaining 73 percent stake in auto-sales website Cars.com that it does not already own for $1.8 billion, according to media reports on Monday. A deal could be announced as early as Tuesday.

Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, already owns an about 27 percent stake in Cars.com. A deal would value the entire business at about $2.5 billion.

In March, the Wall Street Journal reported that Classified Ventures LLC, a joint venture of five media companies, has put Cars.com for sale. Through a sale of Cars.com, Classified Ventures hopes to cash in on the booming value for e-commerce sites.

Besides Gannett, Classified Ventures is owned by Tribune Co. (TRBAA), A.H. Belo Corp. (AHC), McClatchy Co. (MNI) and Graham Holdings Co. (GHC).

Classified Ventures was set up in 1997 to help these media companies to capitalize on the growth of online classified advertisements in the automotive, real estate and rentals sectors. However, a sale of Cars.com could mark the unwinding of the joint venture.

Cars.com was launched in June 1998 by its five owners. The site allows users to check car prices, compare models and read reviews of auto dealers.

According to Cars.com, its website is visited by more than 11 million car shoppers each month. Other Cars.com properties include NewCars.com and PickupTrucks.com.

GCI closed Monday's regular trading session at $34.32, up $1.44 or 4.38 percent on a volume of 3.99 million shares. In after-hours, the stock further gained $0.01 or 0.03 percent to $34.33.