Gannett might sweeten its takeover bid for Tribune

There is nothing new yet on the table, but one source close to Gannett said the company might sweeten its offer for Tribune Publishing above the $15 a share now on the table — but only if it looked like that would help close a deal.

The Gannett board as recently as last week was mulling the possibility of walking away but was heartened by the volume of withheld votes in the just-concluded voting for the Tribune board of directors, the source said.

The huge number of withheld votes shows that there are a lot of rebellious shareholders who are angry that Tribune Chairman Michael Ferro is fighting Gannett’s hostile takeover bid.

Close to 49 percent withheld votes.

The Gannett board will now leave the offer on the table for the foreseeable future and watch the next quarter’s results for Tribune to see if the numbers continue to erode, the source said.

Tribune Publishing is in the midst of switching its corporate name to tronc — with a lower-case “t” — and moving its shares on June 20 from the NYSE to Nasdaq.

Ferro said the new name is meant to give the company a new identification to reflect new media realities. Tronc is said to be short for Tribune Online Content.