Sunday, November 02, 2008
Calling all SEC experts; this one's got me stumped
Why is the Gannett 401(k) Savings Plan registering 25 million shares of common stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission?
12 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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My guess is that under federal rules, publicly traded companies have to report any material trading activities involving the stock, particularly if it involves insiders. So they are notifying the SEC and the public they have set aside 25 million stock, which are going to be used as the match in the 401K programs now the traditional pension plan has been scrapped.
ReplyDeleteWhat? No Gannett-issued press release on this news?
ReplyDeleteIt's not news, just a bookkeeping entry. There are probably 100 of these kinds of things a month.
ReplyDelete12:22 PM
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong, based on the number of SEC filings Gannett has made this year.
12:52 is 100% correct. They have to report that. Its no big deal at all. Its just a rule to try to add more transparency and prevent insider trading.
ReplyDelete2:09 PM
ReplyDeleteI've looked back at the SEC filings and have not been able to see that Gannett has done this 401K thing in the past. Am I missing something? Why is the company doing this right now? If it's a good thing, why wasn't it done last year and five years ago?
I guess checking out "first" time anything is a bad habit I developed. Would someone please tell me if this is a Gannett first, and on what basis the company made that decision? Thanks.
2:09 Because they weren't doing the stock in the 401k plan deal until August, when they scrapped the traditional pension plan. It is a first for the 401K plan, but they have in the past set aside stock for Christmas rewards to execs and other executive giveaways.
ReplyDeleteBut they have been doing matching funds during the whole existence of the 401k haven't they? Don't they have to report this every month?
ReplyDeleteHere are the questions:
ReplyDelete-How long has Gannett been using its own stock as a 401-K match?
-Is this the company's first filed SEC form S-8 or 8-S or whatever that is?
Gannett has been using its stock as the company's match since the start of the 401(k) plan in 1990.
ReplyDeleteDon't laugh at this question, but wouldn't that mean they're registering stock that already had to be registered in order to make the 401-K match in the first place---or can you use unregistered stock for the 401-K match?
ReplyDeleteIt is perhaps because GCI has long had stock buybacks in place to feed the match, but with buybacks lapsing they have to find the shares elsewhere. Creating new common is dilutive of earnings -- something existing investors frown on -- so it's done sparingly.
ReplyDelete