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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
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CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) January 11, 2000
PULITZER INC.
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 1-9329 431819711
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(State or other jurisdiction (Commission (IRS Employer
of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
900 North Tucker Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63101
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (314) 340-8000
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Not Applicable
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
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ITEM 2. ACQUISITION OR DISPOSITION OF ASSETS.
On January 11, 2000, pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase
Agreement, dated as of October 4, 1999, by and between Pulitzer Inc.
("Pulitzer") and The Chronicle Publishing Company ("Chronicle"), Pulitzer
completed its acquisition of substantially all the assets of The Pantagraph, a
daily and Sunday newspaper that serves the central Illinois cities of
Bloomington and Normal, and a group of seven community newspapers known as the
Illinois Valley Press, from Chronicle for a purchase price of $180 million,
subject to a post-closing working capital adjustment. The purchase price was
based on negotiations between Pulitzer and Chronicle. Pulitzer paid for the
acquisition from its cash reserves.
In connection with the completion of the acquisition, the Registrant
issued the press release filed herewith as Exhibit 99.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS.
(c) EXHIBITS
99 Press release, dated January 11, 2000.
All other Items of this report are inapplicable.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
PULITZER INC.
Date: January 24, 2000 By:/s/ RONALD H. RIDGWAY
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Name: Ronald H. Ridgway
Title: Senior Vice President-Finance
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EXHIBIT INDEX
99 Press release, dated January 11, 2000.
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EXHIBIT 99
[PULITZER LETTERHEAD]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PULITZER INC. ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF
THE PANTAGRAPH ACQUISITION
ST. LOUIS, January 11, 2000 - Pulitzer Inc. (NYSE: PTZ) today announced
the completion of its acquisition of The Pantagraph, a daily and Sunday
newspaper that serves the central Illinois cities of Bloomington and Normal, and
a group of seven community newspapers known as the Illinois Valley Press, for
$180 million from The Chronicle Publishing Company of San Francisco.
The transaction is structured as a purchase of assets, which will
enable Pulitzer to realize up to $70 million in tax benefits over the
depreciable and amortizable lives of the assets acquired. Pulitzer is paying for
the acquisition from its cash reserves.
The agreement to purchase The Pantagraph was announced in October 1999.
With circulation of about 50,100 daily and 54,000 Sunday, The Pantagraph will
become Pulitzer's third-largest property.
Pulitzer Inc. became an independent public company in March 1999 with
the spin-off of the newspaper publishing and new media businesses formerly
operated by Pulitzer Publishing Company.
In addition to The Pantagraph, Pulitzer Inc.'s newspaper operations
include two major metropolitan dailies, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The
Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz., and 11 other dailies: The Daily Herald,
Provo, Utah; the Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, Calif.; The Napa Valley
Register, Napa, Calif.; The World, Coos Bay, Ore.; The Hanford Sentinel,
Hanford, Calif.; the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz.; the Troy Daily News,
Troy, Ohio; The Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.; The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii;
The Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.; and The Daily News, Rhinelander, Wisc.
-more-
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Add one
Pulitzer Inc. Completes Acquisition
Through its Pulitzer Technologies subsidiary, Pulitzer Inc. also
engages in a variety of new media and interactive initiatives, including web
sites related to the newspapers in St. Louis and Tucson and a number of its
other dailies. Pulitzer Inc. is the successor to the company originally founded
by Joseph Pulitzer in St. Louis in 1878.
For further information, contact James V. Maloney, director of
shareholder relations, Pulitzer Inc. at (314) 340-8402.
NOTE:
The above statements include forward-looking statements which are based on
current management expectations of the Company. Factors that could cause
future results to differ from these expectations include the following: the
Company's earnings, financial condition and capital requirements, and
general economic conditions. Additional factors are described in the
Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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