The Hoffmann Family of Companies (HF Companies), a family-owned conglomerate, is buying stock and increasing its share of ownership in the Davenport-based newspaper chain Lee Enterprises.
The company announced the stock buys and forecast future ones on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
The Jerrilyn M. Hoffman Revocable Trust – which is part of HF Companies – reported a 6.7% holding in Lee Enterprises, equivalent to $6.85 million, according to a report from HF Companies.
The Naples, Florida-based HF Companies is now one of the biggest owners in Lee, “with plans for further investment, (and) JPMorgan Chase is advising on this exciting new strategy,” according to a post on the HF Companies Facebook page.
This spring, Lee launched a protective plan against a possible effort to take over the company.
Lee Enterprises on March 29 announced that its board of directors unanimously adopted a limited-duration shareholder rights plan. The rights plan will expire on March 27, 2025, according to an earlier Lee news release.
Such plans often have the purpose to discourage any one shareholder from acquiring a controlling amount of stock and to give the company time to consider any offer and what actions it might take to maximize shareholder value.
The move was in response to the significant accumulation of shares of Lee common stock bought by Quint Digital Limited, an entity based in India.
In the Quad Cities region, Lee is the publisher of the Quad-City Times, Moline Dispatch and Muscatine Journal newspapers. It publishes more than 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 73 markets in 26 states.
Hoffman Media Group, another part of HF Companies, is a privately held media company based in southwest Florida. It publishes a variety of print, online, mobile and email publications. Over the past 15 years, the group’s writers, designers and ad builders have earned more than 200 awards from the Florida Press Association and other associations.
The Hoffmann Family of Companies is a diversified family-owned conglomerate that employs more than 9,000 people at 250 facilities around the world.
