10K Watch: Gannett Probably Paid Less Than $15 Million For Ripple6
This story was written by Rory Maher.
Gannett (NYSE: GCI) picked up social-networking company Ripple6 in November in part because the newspaper chain's chief digital officer Chris Saridakis had stake in the company but also as a cheap way to impress The Street by expanding its business of setting up social-net sites. But the terms of the transaction weren't disclosed at the time. Some new details on the deal can be gleaned from Gannett's latest 10K.
A clause in the acquisition paperwork pays the owners of Ripple6 $1.8 million through 2013 if they beat certain performance expectations. Since these clauses typically can represent 10 percent to 30 percent of an average purchase price, that would imply that Gannett probably didn't pay more than $15 million for Ripple6 .
Momslikeus.com, Gannett's mommy network powered by Ripple, has been using some of the conversations between moms for publication in local Gannett papers. It's an interesting way of using online content to try to boost local newspapers, but definitely isn't going to save the day for print.
Not a lot of info on the larger national advertisers Gannett promised when it bought Ripple6 and launched momslikeus.com nationally.
By Rory Maher