Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, raised its unsolicited offer for Tribune Publishing to $15 per share from $12.25, valuing the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times at about $475 million.

Including debt, the offer is worth about $864 million. Tribune’s shares rose 22.1 per cent to $14 shortly after midday, below the latest offer, which was set at a premium of 31 per cent to Tribune’s Friday close.

Tribune’s board adopted a shareholder rights plan earlier this month to thwart Gannett.

Gannett said the latest bid followed an analysis of Tribune’s debt and pension liabilities. “In addition, after further review, Gannett has greater confidence in its ability to yield additional operational improvements in this transaction,” the company said. Tribune said it would thoroughly review the revised offer. – (Reuters)