So…why TEGNA? According to Gannett’s CEO & President Gracia Martone, ‘TEGNA is a nod to the more than 100 year-old history of Gannett. While always reminding us where we came from, the new name also shows our innovative spirit and commitment to being a forward-looking company that empowers people, businesses and communities to grow and thrive.’ Very nice, except for the fact that it’s entirely unclear what the ‘nod’ is to the company’s 100 year old history. Realizing that something was lacking in the press release, a VP of Corporate Communications offered some more details later in the day, explaining that ‘TEGNA is composed of the letters of Gannett…it is not quite a full anagram. But because Gannett has two “n’s” and two “t’s”, we eliminated one of each.’ A sort of anagram is certainly a first and that doesn’t really explain the all caps either. Not surprisingly, the choice is being ridiculed and lambasted in the court of public opinion – there are quite a number of amusing tweets out there poking fun at the company. Adding insult to injury is the fact that when typing, the new company name supposedly auto-corrects to ‘Tenga’, a line of Japanese sex toys. This is sure to join Mondelez (MDLZ) in the pantheon of poor name choices.
With a name in place, the company noted that the spin is on track to be completed in the middle of this year.
Disclosure: Author holds no position in any stock mentioned.