ATLANTA, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gray
Television, Inc. ("Gray," "we," "us" or "our") (NYSE: GTN and
GTN.A) announced today that it has reached an agreement with
Mt. Mansfield Television, Inc. ("Mt. Mansfield") to acquire WCAX-TV, the CBS
affiliated television station in the Burlington, Vermont-Plattsburgh, New York, market (DMA 97) for
$29.0 million.
"Gray is thrilled that the Martin family selected us as the new
steward of Vermont's very first
television station," said Kevin
Latek, Gray's Executive Vice President. "We will
proudly build upon WCAX's strong foundation and six decades of
success as we expand into Vermont,
northern New York and northern
New Hampshire with another great
leading local media institution."
Peter Martin, the President of
Mt. Mansfield, explained, "WCAX is
an integral part of the dynamic communities in which our family has
lived, worked, and grown for decades. We welcome Gray to
Vermont with the knowledge that
its values, resources, and portfolio of similar stations will
ensure that WCAX continues providing strong journalism, community
leadership, and workplace excellence for many more decades to
come."
The transaction advances Gray's transformative growth strategy
as we continue to expand through select acquisitions of
market-leading stations that share the culture and values of our
existing television stations. Moreover, through this
acquisition, Gray will enter another strong market that includes
both the state capital of Montpelier as well as numerous colleges and
universities such as the University of
Vermont, SUNY-Plattsburg, and Dartmouth.
Including expected synergies, the transaction represents an
attractive purchase price multiple of less than 6.0 times expected
blended 2016-2017 pro forma broadcast cash flow. We
anticipate that the transaction will be leverage neutral,
immediately free cash flow accretive, and funded primarily through
the use of cash on hand at closing and, if necessary, borrowings
under our existing senior credit facility. Subject to receipt
of regulatory and other approvals, we expect to close the
transaction in the third quarter of 2017.
About Gray:
Gray owns and/or operates over 100 television stations across 56
television markets that collectively broadcast more than 200
program streams including 103 channels affiliated with the CBS
Network, the NBC Network, the ABC Network and the FOX Network.
Our portfolio, including pending acquisitions, includes the
number-one and/or number-two ranked television station operations
in essentially all of our markets, which collectively cover
approximately 10.6 percent of total United States television households.
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SOURCE Gray Television, Inc.