The federal government is OK with Carl Icahn's purchase of a 6.6% stake in Gannett.
That came in an early termination notice, signaling neither the Justice Department nor the Federal Trade Commission had any antitrust issues that would prompt them to either challenge the deal in court or put conditions on it.
Icahn's move was reported Aug. 15 in Gannett's USA Today, with the paper saying Icahn wanted a role in the company's split of its TV, digital and newspaper assets, based on an SEC filing in which Icahn says he and his partners want to discuss the split with management.
Gannett announced the split Aug. 5.
The move is a way to better gauge the performance of those sectors, which also means not tying declining print to burgeoning digital on one balance sheet.
