Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Alan Mutter still thinks McClatchy will either go private or dump Pruitt

Alan Mutter doesn't buy the Wall Street Journal's view that McClatchy will issue millions of new shares in a refinancing deal -- he says MNI has way too much debt to pull that off.
But I still think, as originally reported here, that Gary’s departure from the trust signals either (a) the company is headed down a path to be taken private or (b) Gary is in the process of being ejected as the chief executive, a position he has held since 1996 (sitting simultaneously as one of the four directors of the family trusts for all that time).

Previous:
Wall Street Journal report on Pruitt's resignation from 4 family trusts: "ominous for shareholders"
Readers vote "It's the end of the world as we know it" as theme song for Gary Pruitt

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The corporate cholesterol in McClatchy is so encrusted that ejecting the CEO will create a leadership vacuum and power struggle. It would still be a sinking ship with the deck hands fighting over the captain’s chair.

Kevin Gregory said...

The board has been passive, letting Pruitt do pretty much what he wants. So maybe they are afraid of a power vacuum.

But, Pruitt's resigntion from the 4 family trusts makes him look weaker. We'll see if the board steps up.