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Belo plans to spin off its newspaper business

Belo Corp. said Monday it plans to separate itself into distinct newspaper and television businesses, with its current chief executive remaining with the newspaper side.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Belo Corp. said Monday it plans to separate itself into distinct newspaper and television businesses, with its current chief executive remaining with the newspaper side.

A.H. Belo Corp. will own and operate the company's flagship paper, The Dallas Morning News, as well as The Providence Journal and The Press-Enterprise.

It will also own and manage the Web sites associated with the properties, along with certain niche products and direct mail and commercial printing businesses. The operations currently have annual revenues of about $750 million and approximately 3,800 workers.

Belo Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Decherd will become chairman, president and CEO of A.H. Belo, as well as non-executive chairman of Belo Corp.

Once the spinoff is complete, the remaining Belo Corp. will be a television station company, with about 3,200 employees and revenue of more than $750 million.

It will own and operate 20 television stations and their related Web sites. The company will also own two 24-hour regional cable news channels.

Belo Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Dunia Shive will become president and CEO of the company after the separation.

Both A.H. Belo and Belo Corp. will have two voting classes of common stock after the spinoff. A.H. Belo Series A shares will have one vote per share, while Series B stock will have 10 votes per share. Belo Corp. Series A and Series B shares already have that structure.

After the spinoff, A.H. Belo plans to pay an annual dividend of about 20 cents per share in quarterly increments, while Belo Corp. plans to pay an annual dividend of approximately 30 cents per share quarterly.

The ticker symbol for A.H. Belo has yet to be determined.

A.H. Belo will be debt-free when the spinoff is complete, Belo Corp. said.

The spinoff is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2008, subject to customary regulatory approvals.