Gannett, the parent company of the Arizona Republic, announced a proposal today to buy the Tribune Publishing Co., for about $815 million.

Tribune Publishing publishes the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and the Orlando Sentinel. 

Gannett Co. proposes to buy all of the common stock of Tribune Publishing for $12.25 per share. The deal would include Gannett assuming about $390 million in Tribune debt.

Gannett’s all cash proposal would provide Tribune stockholders a 63 percent premium to the closing stock price of Tribune on April 22.

“The Gannett board unanimously believes that the acquisition of Tribune would deliver substantial strategic and financial benefits for the combined company,” said John Jeffry Louis, Gannett chairman. of the Gannett Board of Directors. 

Gannett has newspapers and digital platforms in more than 120 markets and claims a reach of 100 million readers monthly. That includes the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times are legacy media properties that have struggled financially the past decade along with virtually every newspaper operation. 

Robert Dickey, Gannett president and CEO, said “the proposed combination of Gannett and Tribune would bring together two highly complementary organizations with a shared goal of providing trusted, premium content for the readers and communities we serve.”