WTGS Fox Savannah to be Acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Press release from the issuing company
Thursday, August 21st, 2014
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (the "Company" or "Sinclair") announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the broadcast assets of one television station in Providence, RI owned by Media General, Inc. ("Media General"), two television stations in Green Bay, WI owned by LIN Media, LLC ("LIN") and one television station in Savannah, GA owned by WTGS Television, LLC and operated by LIN through a shared services arrangement. The three markets represent 1.2% of U.S. television households. Simultaneously, Sinclair will sell Media General the broadcast assets of three stations in two markets upon the completion of the LIN/Media General merger. The Company's previously announced sale of WHTM in Harrisburg is expected to close in September 2014. The combination of all stations being sold to Media General represents 1.9% of U.S. television households. In addition and as part of the transactions, Sinclair will pay a net cash price of $31.0 million for an additional $3.4 million of cash flow being swapped. In addition, the Company expects to generate an additional approximately $2.0 million of synergies on the acquired stations.
The stations that Sinclair will acquire are:The stations that Sinclair will sell are:
|
Station |
Affil. |
Market |
DMA(1) |
|
WJAR |
NBC |
Providence, RI-New Bedford, MA |
53 |
|
WLUK |
FOX |
Green Bay-Appleton, WI |
70 |
|
WCWF |
CW |
Green Bay-Appleton, WI |
70 |
|
WTGS |
FOX |
Savannah, GA |
92 |
The stations that Sinclair will sell are:
|
Station |
Affil. |
Market |
DMA(1) |
|
WTTA |
MY |
Tampa, FL |
14 |
|
KXRM |
FOX |
Colorado Springs, CO |
89 |
|
KXTU(2) |
CW |
Colorado Springs, CO |
89 |
(1) Represents television designated market areas ("DMAs") according to the Nielsen Company. The numbers in the column represent the ranking in terms of size of the DMA out of the 210 generally recognized DMAs in the United States.
(2) Low power
After the completion of the swap of these stations and all other pending acquisitions, Sinclair's television group will reach 38.2% of U.S. television households, a decrease of 0.7%. Completion of the transactions is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including approval by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") (including the receipt of a waiver to allow the continued joint ownership of the two Green Bay stations), antitrust clearance, as applicable, and closing of the Media General/Lin merger. The Company anticipates that the transaction will close and fund in the beginning of 2015, concurrent with the closing of the Media General/LIN merger and subject to the satisfaction of the closing conditions. The Company expects to fund the purchase price at closing through cash on hand and/or a draw under its bank credit agreement.
"This transaction not only allows us to strengthen our portfolio geographically, but because it frees up 0.7% of national ownership cap, it allows us the ability to acquire additional television stations that are core to our asset base," commented David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair. "The Green Bay stations complete our coverage of all the major cities in Wisconsin, an important political swing state. The NBC affiliate in Providence is the #1 station in the market and provides us another state capital presence, while the Savannah station strengthens our existing presence in Georgia and the Southeast. Although there is a need for regulatory reform to increase the ownership cap, swaps like this one are advantageous to us in that we are trading a single station MyNet affiliate in a large market, allowing us to acquire quality television stations in smaller DMAs."


