Sinclair To Acquire Tribune
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. and Tribune Media have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sinclair will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Tribune for $43.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of approximately $2.7 billion in net debt. Tribune owns or operates 42 television stations in 33 markets, WGN America, Antenna TV, minority stakes in Food Network and CareerBuilder, and a variety of real estate assets.
It’s important to note that this media marriage, while sizeable, won’t exactly produce a radio juggernaut — Tribune owns just one radio station — WGN-AM/Chicago, and Sinclair owns four radio stations, all in the Seattle-Tacoma market: Hot AC KPLZ, all-news simulcast KOMO-AM & FM and Talk KVI-AM.
“This is a transformational acquisition for Sinclair that will open up a myriad of opportunities for the company,” commented Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair. “The Tribune stations are highly complementary to Sinclair’s existing footprint and will create a leading nationwide media platform that includes our country’s largest markets. The acquisition will enable Sinclair to build ATSC 3.0 (Next Generation Broadcast Platform) advanced services, scale emerging networks and national sales, and integrate content verticals. The acquisition will also create substantial synergistic value through operating efficiencies, revenue streams, programming strategies and digital platforms.” Tribune CEO Peter Kern remarked, “Today’s announcement is the culmination of an extensive strategic review, which has delivered significant value to our stockholders. Since we announced the strategic review 15 months ago, we have streamlined the business, monetized non-core assets, strengthened our balance sheet and returned more than $800 million to stockholders — all of which has resulted in a 50% increase in stockholder value. We are extremely proud to join Sinclair, and we’re excited that Tribune stockholders and employees will have the opportunity to participate in the long-term growth of the combined company.”
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is anticipated to close and fund in the fourth quarter of 2017, pending approval by the FCC, Tribune’s stockholders and antitrust clearance. With the Tribune acquisition (before any related divestitures) and all previously announced pending transactions, Sinclair will own, operate and/or provide services to 233 television stations in 108 markets.
