INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED COMPANIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 26, 2017

INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED COMPANIES

INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED COMPANIES

3.  INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED COMPANIES

The carrying value of investments in unconsolidated companies consisted of the following:

(in thousands)	% Ownership	March 26,		December 25,
Company	Interest	2017		2016
CareerBuilder, LLC	15.0	$	115,646	$	236,936
Other	Various		6,106		5,446
		$	121,752	$	242,382

The owners of CareerBuilder, including us, continue to pursue a strategic review of this business, which may include a range of possible outcomes. Throughout the first quarter of 2017, the owners reviewed several potential strategic outcomes. In March, the range of possible outcomes was narrowed and we determined there was sufficient indication that the carrying value of our investment in CareerBuilder should be reviewed for impairment. As a result of using our best estimate of fair value at that time, we recorded a $123.0 million pre-tax impairment charge on our equity investment in CareerBuilder during the three months ended March 26, 2017. The value of the investment and other balances reflect only our estimated fair value and should not be perceived as indicative of a potential strategic outcome or the level of values recorded by other owners. We expect the strategic review of CareerBuilder to continue and have no estimate of timing of the process.

On February 23, 2016, we, along with Gannett Co. Inc. and Tribune Publishing Co. (now “tronc, Inc.”) (the “Selling Partners”) sold all of the assets in HomeFinder LLC (“HomeFinder”) to Placester Inc. (“Placester”) in exchange for a small stock ownership in Placester and a 3-year affiliate agreement with Placester to continue to allow the Selling Partners to sell Placester and HomeFinder’s products and services. As a result of this transaction, during the quarter ended March 27, 2016, we wrote off our HomeFinder investment of $0.9 million, which is recorded in equity income in unconsolidated companies, net, on our condensed consolidated statements of operations.