After the FCC ordered its Administrative Law Judge to hold a hearing on the pending purchase of TEGNA by affiliates of Standard General LP and the associated divestitures including a swap of assets with Cox Media Group in February, the deal has collapsed as the funding deadline has passed.
TEGNA, whose radio holdings include the Sports duo of “97.1 The Fan” WBNS-FM and “ESPN 1460” WBNS Columbus OH, has instead initiated a $300 million stock buy-back program as it officially terminated the merger with Standard General. Standard General, led by founding partner Soo Kim, had agreed to purchase TEGNA in February 2022 for approximately $8.6 billion including the assumption of debt. Nine stations from TEGNA and Standard would have been swapped to Cox Media Group for WFXT Boston.
The deal met with resistance from the beginning as Cox and its primary investor Apollo Global Management holding the majority of shares in the new company despite promises that they would not be involved in the day-to-day operation. While it received approval from the DOJ and other federal agencies, the FCC sent the deal to a hearing over concerns that the deal would lead to increased retransmission consent fees and the potential public interest harm to localism including due to labor reductions.
TEGNA will receive $136 million from Standard General in termination fees from the collapse of the deal while also increasing their regular quarterly dividend by 20% to 11.375 cents a share from 9.5 cents.
Standard General is also the majority shareholder in MediaCo Holdings, which owns Hip Hop “Hot 97” WQHT and Adult R&B 107.5 WBLS New York.
