Nexstar Media Group Inc has reached an agreement to acquire to Tribune Media Co for about $4.1 billion, a deal which would make it the largest regional US TV station operator, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. Nexstar's acquisition would come just three months after Tribune's $3.9 billion deal to sell itself to Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc, currently the largest US TV station operator, collapsed over regulatory hurdles.
Nexstar outbid private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC with an all-cash offer that values Tribune at around $46.50 per share, three sources said. The agreement between Nexstar and Tribune Media could be announced by Monday, the sources added. The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Nexstar, Tribune, Apollo and Sinclair did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tribune terminated its deal with Sinclair in August, and filed a lawsuit arguing that the latter mishandled efforts to get the transaction approved by taking too long and being too aggressive in its dealings with regulators. However, since then the broadcast media sector has seen a flurry of merger talks, amid expectations that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could relax restrictions on how many stations broadcasters can operate. The FCC has yet to vote on the matter.
Nexstar owns, operates and provides sales and other services to 174 television stations reaching nearly 39 percent of all US television households. It has a market capitalization of $3.8 billion.
Based in Chicago, Tribune Media owns or operates 42 local television stations reaching approximately 50 million households. It also owns national entertainment cable network WGN America, whose reach is more than 77 million households, and a variety of digital applications and websites commanding 54 million monthly unique visitors online, according to its website.
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