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Standard General buying WNEP-TV owner Tegna | Business | standardspeaker.com - Standard Speaker

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WNEP-TV is being sold for the second time in just over two years.

Standard General is purchasing television station owner Tegna in a deal valued at about $5.4 billion, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

An affiliate of Standard General, Apollo Global Management, will pay $24 in cash for each Tegna share. The transaction has an enterprise value of approximately $8.6 billion, which includes the assumption of debt.

In premarket trading on Tuesday, Tegna shares rose more than 8% to $22.75. The company said the bid represents a premium of approximately 39% to its closing stock price on Sept. 14, the last full trading day before media speculation about a potential sale of the company.

The transaction is subject to approval by Tegna shareholders, regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

Once the deal closes, Tegna’s five stations in Austin, Dallas and Houston are expected to be acquired by Cox Media Group from Standard General.

WNEP was one of 11 stations Tegna acquired from Nexstar Media Group in March 2019 for $740 million.

Tegna was formed in June 2015 when it was split off from Gannett. The company, based in Tysons, Virginia, owns 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets.

“This transaction is the next step in Tegna’s evolution and recognizes the value of our portfolio of leading broadcast assets and innovative digital brands,” said Dave Lougee, Tegna’s president and CEO. “Tegna’s employees deserve tremendous credit for their commitment to serving our viewers with high-quality news and content that informs and supports our local communities.”

Carl Abraham, who retired as WNEP’s news director in April after more than 37 years at the station, noted the employees have been through “an exhausting and emotional ride the past five or so years.”

Former WNEP-TV parent company Tribune Media Co. announced in May 2017 that the company would be acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group for $3.9 billion.

The Federal Communications Commission ruled against the acquisition in July 2018. As part of that deal, local Sinclair stations Fox 56 WOLF-TV, The CW-affiliated WSWB-TV and MyNetworkTV-affiliated WQMY, were to be sold to Standard.

In December 2018, WBRE-TV owner Nexstar agreed to buy former WNEP-TV parent company Tribune Media for $4.1 billion after the collapse of the Sinclair bid.

Nexstar later identified WNEP-TV as one of three stations it intended to sell so its acquisition of Tribune Media could obtain regulatory approvals.

Julie Eisenman, president and general manager of WNEP, could not be reached for comment on the sale Tuesday.

Abraham was uncertain how the sale could potentially impact the local news station.

“You never know the impact of a company sale until the new owners take over,” he said. “However, I would hope that whomever takes over WNEP would know better not to mess around and make changes.”

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Standard General buying WNEP-TV owner Tegna | Business | standardspeaker.com - Standard Speaker
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