BALTIMORE, April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinclair
Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) (the "Company" or "Sinclair")
announced that, it has entered into definitive agreements to sell
television stations to Standard Media Group LLC (an affiliate of
Standard General LP), Meredith
Corporation (NYSE: MDP) ("Meredith"), Howard Stirk and Cunningham Broadcasting
Corporation and another party to be announced, upon consummation of
Sinclair's acquisition of the stock of Tribune Media Company
(NYSE:TRCO) ("Tribune"). The sales are part of Sinclair's
larger acquisition of Tribune Media Company, in order to obtain
necessary governmental approval of the Tribune transaction and for
other business purposes and are expected to close at the same time
as the Tribune transaction. Sinclair anticipates closing near
the end of the second quarter of 2018, pending customary closing
conditions, including approval by the Federal Communications
Commission ("FCC") and antitrust clearance, as applicable.
Moelis & Company served as exclusive financial advisor to
Sinclair on these transactions.
The stations to be sold are:
Station
|
Buyer
|
Current
Owner
|
Affiliation
|
Market
|
DMA(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WGN-TV
|
WGN-TV,
LLC(2)
|
Tribune
|
IND
|
Chicago,
IL
|
3
|
KDAF
|
Cunningham
|
Tribune
|
CW
|
Dallas, TX
|
5
|
KIAH
|
Cunningham
|
Tribune
|
CW
|
Houston,
TX
|
7
|
KCPQ
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Seattle,
WA
|
12
|
KUNS
|
Howard
Stirk(3)
|
Sinclair
|
Univision
|
Seattle,
WA
|
12
|
WSFL-TV
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
CW
|
Miami, FL
|
16
|
KDVR
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Denver, CO
|
17
|
WJW
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Cleveland,
OH
|
19
|
KTXL
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Sacramento,
CA
|
20
|
KPLR-TV
|
Meredith
|
Tribune
|
CW
|
St. Louis,
MO
|
21
|
KSWB-TV
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
San Diego,
CA
|
29
|
KSTU
|
TBA
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
30
|
KMYU
|
Howard
Stirk(3)
|
Sinclair
|
MNT
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
30
|
KOKH
|
Standard
Media
|
Sinclair
|
FOX
|
Oklahoma City,
OK
|
41
|
KAUT-TV
|
Howard
Stirk(3)
|
Tribune
|
IND
|
Oklahoma City,
OK
|
41
|
WXMI
|
Standard
Media
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Grand Rapids,
MI
|
43
|
WPMT
|
Standard
Media
|
Tribune
|
FOX
|
Harrisburg,
PA
|
45
|
WXLV
|
Standard
Media
|
Sinclair
|
ABC
|
Greensboro,
NC
|
48
|
WRLH
|
Standard
Media
|
Sinclair
|
FOX
|
Richmond,
VA
|
55
|
WOLF
|
Standard
Media(4)
|
Sinclair
|
FOX
|
Wilkes Barre,
PA
|
57
|
WQMY
|
Standard
Media(4)
|
Sinclair
|
MNT
|
Wilkes Barre,
PA
|
57
|
WSWB
|
Standard
Media(4)
|
Sinclair
|
CW
|
Wilkes Barre,
PA
|
57
|
KDSM
|
Standard
Media
|
Sinclair
|
FOX
|
Des Moines,
IA
|
68
|
(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)
|
Following the sale of
this station, Sinclair will provide services pursuant to joint
sales and shared services agreements. Even if Sinclair owned such
station, Sinclair would be in compliance with the national
cap.
|
(3)
|
Following the sale of
these station, Sinclair will provide services pursuant to joint
sales and shared services agreements, which are permitted under the
FCC's local ownership rules.
|
(4)
|
Sinclair is not the
licensee of these stations and will only be selling the assets of
such stations that Sinclair owns, together with its right to
purchase the licenses of the stations.
|
"After a very robust divestiture process, with strong interest
from many parties, we have achieved healthy multiples on the
stations we are divesting," commented Chris
Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair. "While we
continue to believe that we had a strong and supportable rationale
for not having to divest stations, we are happy to announce this
significant step forward in our plan to create a leading broadcast
platform with local focus and national reach. The combined
company will continue to advance industry technology, including the
Next Generation Broadcast Platform, and to benefit from significant
revenue and expense synergies."
About Sinclair:
Sinclair is one of the largest and
most diversified television broadcasting companies in the
country. Pro forma for the Tribune acquisition and related
station divestitures, the Company will own, operate and/or provide
services to 215 television stations in 102 markets. The
Company has multiple emerging networks as well as stations
affiliated with all the major networks. Sinclair is a leading
local news provider in the country and a producer of live sports
content. Sinclair's content is delivered via
multiple-platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video
program distributors, and digital platforms. The Company
regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information
which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.
Forward-Looking Statements:
The matters
discussed in this news release, particularly those in the section
labeled "Outlook," include forward-looking statements regarding,
among other things, future operating results. When used in
this news release, the words "outlook," "intends to," "believes,"
"anticipates," "expects," "achieves," "estimates," and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Such statements are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ
materially and adversely from those described in the
forward-looking statements as a result of various important
factors, including, but not limited to, the impact of changes in
national and regional economies, the volatility in the U.S. and
global economies and financial credit markets which impact our
ability to forecast, our ability to integrate acquired businesses
and maximize operating synergies, our ability to obtain necessary
governmental approvals for announced acquisitions and to satisfy
other closing conditions, successful execution of outsourcing
agreements, pricing and demand fluctuations in local and national
advertising, volatility in programming costs, the market's
acceptance of new programming, our news share strategy, our local
sales initiatives, the execution of retransmission consent
agreements, our ability to identify and consummate investments in
attractive non-television assets and to achieve anticipated returns
on those investments once consummated, and any other risk factors
set forth in the Company's most recent reports on Form 10-Q, Form
10-K and Form 8-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. There can be no assurances that the assumptions
and other factors referred to in this release will occur. The
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of
any revisions to these forward-looking statements except as
required by law.
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SOURCE Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.