Cleary Gottlieb represented Newcastle Investment Corp., a REIT managed by Fortress Investment Group, in the spin-off of its majority-owned subsidiary, New Media Investment Group Inc. Newcastle spun off its entire 84.6% interest in New Media to holders of Newcastle’s common stock. The spin-off was completed on February 13 and New Media began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 14.
New Media is one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States. Currently, New Media operates in 338 markets across 24 states and reaches approximately 10 million people on a weekly basis. New Media will invest in local media assets and continue to grow its digital marketing businesses, while Newcastle will focus on managing real-estate related investments.
New Media consists of two operating subsidiaries: GateHouse Media, LLC and Local Media Group Holdings LLC. Cleary Gottlieb represented Newcastle as plan sponsor and the largest secured lender in GateHouse’s pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, which was consummated on November 26, 2013. Cleary Gottlieb also represented Newcastle in the acquisition of Local Media, which was contributed to New Media as part of the restructuring.
