Fusion Corporate Partners

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc is selling 23 television stations to several companies after completing its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.

The sales are to obtain the necessary governmental approval of the Tribune transaction, the company said, as it has worked for months to win regulatory approval for the deal.

Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair, said, “After a very robust divestiture process, with strong interest from many parties, we have achieved healthy multiples on the stations we are divesting. While we continue to believe that we had a strong and supportable rationale for not having to divest stations, we are happy to announce this significant step forward in our plan to create a leading broadcast platform with local focus and national reach. The combined company will continue to advance industry technology, including the Next Generation Broadcast Platform, and to benefit from significant revenue and expense synergies”.

Standard Media Group, an affiliate of Standard General L.P., will acquire the following nine television stations in seven markets for $441.7 million in cash:

KOKH-TV, Oklahoma City, OK (affiliated to FOX)
WXMI, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI (affiliated to FOX)
WPMT, Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, PA (affiliated to FOX)
WXLV-TV, Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, NC (affiliated to ABC)
WRLH-TV, Richmond-Petersburg, VA (affiliated to FOX)
WOLF-TV ⁽¹⁾, Wilkes Barre-Hazelton-Scranton, PA (affiliated to FOX)
WSWB ⁽¹⁾, Wilkes Barre-Hazelton-Scranton, PA (affiliated to CW)
WQMY ⁽¹⁾, Wilkes Barre-Hazelton-Scranton, PA (affiliated to MY)
KDSM-TV, Des Moines-Ames, IA (affiliated to FOX)
⁽¹⁾ Sinclair is not the licensee of these stations and will only be selling the assets of such stations that Sinclair owns, together with its right to purchase the licenses of the stations.

Meredith Corp will acquire CW-affiliated KPLR-11 in St. Louis for $65 million. Additionally, three stations are going to Howard Stirk and two are going to shared services agreement partner Cunningham Media. The buyer for the remaining seven stations is yet to be named.

USA, Hunt Valley, MD & Washington, WA & St Louis, MO & Baltimore, MD

Related articles:

• Sinclair Broadcast Group acquires Tribune Media Company for approximately $3.9 Billion Posted on May 8, 2017
• Sinclair Broadcast Group to purchase 6 Newport TV stations; Also to purchase assets of WTTA-TV Posted on July 19, 2012