3. INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED COMPANIES

Our ownership interest and investment in unconsolidated companies consisted of the following:


(in thousands)	% Ownership	December 27,		December 28,
Company	Interest	2015		2014
CareerBuilder, LLC	15.0	$	230,170	$	226,965
Other	Various		3,368		3,508
		$	233,538	$	230,473

Classified Ventures, LLC

On April 1, 2014, Classified Ventures, LLC (“Classified Ventures”) sold its Apartments.com business for $585 million. Accordingly, during 2014, we recorded our share of the net gain of $144.2 million, before taxes, as gains related to equity investments in our consolidated statements of operations. On April 1, 2014, we received a cash distribution of $146.9 million from Classified Ventures, which is equal to our share of the net proceeds.

On October 1, 2014, we, along with Tribune Media Company, Graham Holdings Company and A. H. Belo Corporation (the “Selling Partners”) sold all of the Selling Partners’ ownership interests in Classified Ventures to TEGNA, Inc. (formerly Gannett Co., Inc.) for a price that valued Classified Ventures at $2.5 billion. We recorded gain on sale of our ownership interest in Classified Ventures of $559.3 million, before taxes, during the fourth quarter of 2014. Our portion of the cash proceeds, net of transaction costs, was $631.8 million. Pursuant to the sale agreement, $25.6 million of net proceeds was being held in escrow until October 1, 2015. On October 1, 2014, we received our portion of the net cash proceeds, less the escrow amount, of $606.2 million. Upon the closing of the transaction, we entered into a new, five-year affiliate agreement with Cars.com that will allow us to continue to sell Cars.com products and services exclusively in our local markets.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, we received the $25.6 million escrow balance from the escrow account.

During the first quarter of 2015, we received $0.6 million from Classified Ventures as a result of the final working capital adjustment from our sale of Classified Ventures in the fourth quarter of 2014. In addition, in April 2015, we received a final cash distribution of $7.5 million from Classified Ventures. Both of these transactions were recorded as gains related to equity investments during 2015, because the company has no continuing ownership interest in Classified Ventures (see above).

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

On May 7, 2014, we transferred our partnership interest in McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (“MCT”) to TCA News Service, LLC (“TCA”) for cash and future newswire content. Concurrently, we entered into a contributor agreement with MCT pursuant to which we both continue to be a contributor of newswire content to MCT for an agreed upon rate and we will receive newswire content from MCT or its successor at no cost for approximately 10 years. We recognized a $3.1 million intangible asset in the consolidated balance sheets with respect to the value of the content we will receive from MCT at no cost under these agreements, and a $1.7 million gain on sale of the equity investment in gains related to equity investments in the consolidated statements of operations.

During 2015 and 2014, we recorded write‑downs of $8.2 million and $7.8 million, respectively, which reduced our equity income in unconsolidated companies, net, in the consolidated statements of operations. The write-down in 2015 was primarily related to CareerBuilder, LLC, which recorded a non-cash, goodwill impairment charge related to their international reporting unit in the fourth quarter of 2015. Our portion of that impairment charge was $7.5 million. The write-down in 2014 was primarily our interest in the Ponderay Newsprint Company.

We received dividends and other equity distributions from our investments in unconsolidated companies as follows:


	Years Ended
	December 27,		December 28,
(in thousands)	2015		2014
CareerBuilder, LLC	$	7,500	$	6,750
Other		7,460		155,576
	$	14,960	$	162,326

For 2015, the $15.0 million in total distributions from our equity investments included $7.5 million from CareerBuilder LLC, which represented a return on investment and was recorded as an operating activity, and the $7.5 million from Classified Ventures (see above) was considered a return of investment because there were no cumulative earnings from the investee and, therefore, was treated as an investing activity on our consolidated statements of cash flows.

For 2014, the $162.3 million in total distributions from our equity investments included $160.7 million, which represented a return on investment, was shown as an operating activity, and the remaining $1.6 million, which exceeded the cumulative earnings from an investee and was considered a return of investment and therefore was treated as an investing activity in our consolidated statements of cash flows.

We have a 27% general partnership interest in Ponderay Newsprint Company (“Ponderay”) and we purchased some of our newsprint supply from Ponderay during 2015, 2014 and 2013. Our investment in Ponderay is zero as a result of a write off in 2014 and accumulative losses exceeding our carrying value. No future income or losses from Ponderay will be recorded until our carrying value on our balance sheet is restored through future earnings by Ponderay.

We have a 49.5% ownership interest in The Seattle Times Company (“STC”). Our investment in STC is zero as a result of accumulative losses in previous years exceeding our carrying value. No future income or losses from STC will be recorded until our carrying value on our balance sheet is restored through future earnings by STC.

We also incurred expenses related to the purchase of products and services provided by these companies. We purchase newsprint from Ponderay and we incur wholesale fees from CareerBuilder, LLC for the uploading and hosting of online advertising on behalf of our newspapers’ advertisers. We record these expenses for CareerBuilder, LLC as a reduction to the associated digital classified advertising revenues and expenses related to Ponderay are recorded in operating expenses. The following table summarizes expenses incurred for products and services provided by unconsolidated companies:


	Years Ended
	December 27,		December 28,		December 29,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2013
CareerBuilder, LLC	$	1,001	$	1,024	$	1,109
Ponderay (general partnership)		8,200		10,433		16,313

As of December 27, 2015, and December 28, 2014, we had approximately $1.0 million and $1.5 million, respectively, payable collectively to CareerBuilder, LLC and Ponderay.

The tables below present the summarized financial information, as provided to us by these investees, for our investments in unconsolidated companies on a combined basis:


	December 27,		December 28,
(in thousands)	2015		2014
Current assets	$	365,993	$	359,349
Noncurrent assets		540,629		577,837
Current liabilities		236,630		247,825
Noncurrent liabilities		228,209		180,764
Equity		441,783		508,597


	Year ended
	December 27,		December 28,		December 29,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2013
Net revenues	$	988,871	$	1,368,593	$	1,512,534
Gross profit		843,680		1,155,091		1,262,104
Operating income		38,561		146,809		231,952
Net income		39,143		151,519		247,441