• by Wayne Friedman , August 15, 2014

Gannett's stock shot up 5% after Thursday’s trading on news that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn had taken a sizable position in the company.

But Bloomberg News, in its reporting, said Gannett Co. has probably pursued much of Icahn’s usual intention -- breaking up the company.

As with other recent media companies, Gannett Co., owner of USA Today, back in early August said it was going to break up the company into two publicly owned companies -- one for its TV/digital businesses and one for its newspaper/print businesses.

It was disclosed that Icahn Associates Corp. has bought up 6.6% of Gannett shares in the second quarter. Icahn says it still wants to talk to company management.

Last year, Gannett made a major move to shore up its TV business by acquiring Belo Corp. for $1.5 billion. The group will have 46 TV stations that Gannett owns or services -- the largest independent station group of major network affiliates in the top 25 markets.

A number of other media companies -- Time Warner, News Corp. and others -- have either formally split their respective TV/digital and print business or have announced plans to do so.

Friday trading of Gannett’s stock was up 0.2% to $34.10. The stock has climbed 33% during the past year.