Investing.com -- Billionaire investor Carl Icahn disclosed a 4.66% stake in Gannett Co Inc (N:GCI), according to a filing issued with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
Last year, Icahn unloaded Gannett shares he purchased in 2014, when the media conglomerate split into two separate companies. In June, Gannett spun off its print division, but held onto its broadcasting arm while changing its name to Tegna. At the time, Icahn sold off his shares in the publishing division, which continued to operate under the Gannett name.
While controlling a 6.6% stake in Gannett last year, Icahn requested two seats on the company's Board of Directors and proposed a handful of policy changes that would eliminate defensive actions against potential takeover bids resulting from the split. Icahn eventually dropped his request after the company adopted a new rule that allows shareholders of 20% of its outstanding shares to request an unscheduled meeting. In an SEC 13-D filing on Wednesday, said he has reduced his stake in Gannett from 6.51% to 4.66%.
Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the U.S., owns a number of prominent newspapers including: USA Today, The Arizona Republic, The Tennessean, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Detroit Free Press among others. Tegna owns 46 local television stations across the nation in major markets such as Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Seattle and Washington D.C.
Icahn, a legendary Wall Street investor, also owns stakes in Netflix Inc (O:NFLX), Motorola Solutions Inc (N:MSI) and Apple Inc (O:AAPL).
Shares in Gannett fell 0.07 or 0.44% to 15.69 in after-hours trading.