The event-producing year involving Cars.com generated another headline on Wednesday morning as the vehicle-listing website’s parent company — TEGNA — announced it intends to spin-off Cars.com, creating two independent publicly traded companies.

Additionally, TEGNA announced that Gracia Martore, its president, chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors, will retire upon the closing of the spin-off, which is expected to take place in the first half of 2017.

Following the spin-off, officials said Cars.com will remain headquartered in Chicago and will trade under the ticker symbol CARS.

The company emphasized the automotive sector is the single largest and most important vertical for local advertising revenue, and Cars.com is one of the few “proven and established digital solutions of scale” in this market.

TEGNA is anticipating that the planned spin-off will result in a trading multiple for Cars.com that is commensurate with other pure-play digital companies; greater flexibility to pursue merger and acquisition opportunities; and benefits associated with aligning capital structure and allocation with specific business needs and opportunities.

“As an independent company, Cars.com will be able to focus more sharply on its key strategic priorities, including rapid innovation within a growing marketplace and active evaluation and pursuit of acquisitions to open up new, adjacent opportunities,” the company said.

Earlier this summer, Cars.com acquired DealerRater, in a move seen as a way to leverage “word-of-mouth marketing,” according to previous reports in Auto Remarketing.

“The spin-off we are announcing today is the next logical step in our ongoing transformation to best position our market-leading businesses and continues our strong track record of creating value for shareholders,” Martore said in a press release announcing the latest news.

 “Spinning off Cars.com from TEGNA will establish two strong, industry-leading companies that are well positioned to compete and to continue to profitably grow in their targeted markets. Each business will have increased strategic, operating and financial flexibility at a time when the broadcast and digital sectors are both rapidly evolving — presenting both companies with a wealth of opportunities,” Martore continued.

“Cars.com will have the flexibility to invest in further organic growth and to participate in the active digital automotive M&A market, and TEGNA will have a strong balance sheet and cash flow to continue to pursue investment in organic growth and opportunistic acquisitions and to provide an optimal mix of capital returns to shareholders,” she went on to say.

“We are fortunate to have strong CEOs for both companies, and we believe this is the right time to separate in order to unlock potential shareholder value both in the near term and over time as they develop independently as two separate pure-play companies,” Martore added.

When the spin-off is finalized, the company said Alex Vetter still will serve as chief executive officer and president of Cars.com, a position he took back in November 2014

Under Vetter’s leadership, Cars.com has grown to approximately 1,300 employees, and the company serves every local market in the U.S. In his years with Cars.com, Vetter has operated in nearly every capacity, spanning product development, customer service, training, operations and sales.

The company also mentioned Vetter has helped establish a vibrant local marketplace for vehicles, enabling e-commerce activities with approximately 20,000 dealers and every manufacturer, all of whom connect with site users on a daily basis. Vetter also serves on the boards of several digital technology companies, including RepairPal.com, a leading marketplace for service and repair.

CareerBuilder strategic review

In connection with the planned spin-off of Cars.com, TEGNA also said it will evaluate strategic alternatives for CareerBuilder, including a possible sale.

CareerBuilder is a leader in human capital solutions that provides services ranging from labor market intelligence to talent management software and other recruitment solutions. It is one of the largest online job sites in the U.S., measured both by traffic and revenue, with a presence in more than 60 markets worldwide.

TEGNA owns a 53-percent controlling interest in CareerBuilder. Minority owners are Tribune Media and The McClatchy Co.

“At this time, there can be no guarantee that any of the options under review will result in a transaction,” officials said.