Both shareholders of Media General and the FCC have bestowed their blessings on the merger of Media General and New Young Broadcasting Holding Company, the current name of the former Young group.
According to the FCC analysis of the deal, Media General will be the surviving corporation, although its shareholders will wind up with less overall ownership, getting 31.7% of the merged entity as compared to the 68.3% going to Young shareholders.
“We’re delighted to have shareholder approval for our business combination with Young Broadcasting, and we are very excited about the prospects for the combined company,” said George L. Mahoney, president and chief executive of Media General. “Once we receive FCC approval for our license transfers, we will close very quickly on the transaction. We believe the review process is going smoothly at the FCC.”
Mahoney, who stays on in his current capacity, said the merged entity will quickly benefit from $44M in synergies, including $29M on the finance side and $15M on the operational side.
The FCC also turned down an objection to the continuation of an SSA/JSA relationship in the Lansing DMA that will continue on post-merger. The FCC said the complainant failed to provide the necessary evidence to show that there was an improper and unauthorized transfer of control on the part of the brokered station in favor of controlling station.
Dish Network also objected, but it was apparently a nebulous objection. The FCC stated, “Although Dish does not clearly state the harms that would be caused as a result of the approval of this transaction, we read Dish’s Informal Objection to imply that grant of the merger may result in higher retransmission fees. Such a claim is speculative and is improper in the context of this adjudicatory proceeding.”
Upon getting word of the FCC action, Mahoney said, ““We’re delighted to have FCC approval for the merger, the last step in the approval process. We are now in a position to close on the transaction and will do that on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. All of us at Media General are extremely excited about the prospects for the combined company. I spent much of the third quarter visiting the Young television stations. What I found further confirms that both Young and Media General approach their markets in the same ways. That shared broadcast vision will further animate and strengthen the smooth integration that we expect. And that, in turn, means we’ll be in a position to capitalize even more quickly on our new, combined strength.”
With the able assistance of Moody’s Investors Service analyst Carl Salas, RBR-TVBR put an estimate on the value of the deal. While the estimate cannot help but come with a certain amount of fuzz, we placed the value in the neighborhood of $1.706B, all things considered. The rationale for that estimate can be read here.
Here, from the same article, are the stations involved in the deal.
Media General
WSLS-TV Roanoke VA
WBTW-TV Florence SC
WCBD-TV Charleston SC
WNCN-TV Goldsboro NC
WNCT-TV Greenville NC
WSPA-TV Spartanburg SC
WYCW-TV Asheville NC
WFLA-TV Tampa FL
WJBF-TV Augusta GA
WKRG-TV Mobile AL
WRBL-TV Columbus GA
WSAV-TV Savannah GA
WVTM-TV Birmingham AL
WHLT-TV Hattiesburg MS
WJTV-TV Jackson MS
WJHL-TV Johnson City TN
WCHM-TV Columbus OH
WJAR-TV Providence RI
Young Broadcasting
KRON-TV San Francisco CA
WKRN-TV Nashville TN
WTEN-TV Albany NY
WCDC-TV Adams MA
WATE-TV Knoxville TN
WRIC-TV Petersburg VA
WBAY-TV Green Bay WI
KWQC-TV Davenport IA
WLHS-TV Lansing MI
KELO-TV Sioux Falls SD
KDLO-TV Florence SD
KPLO-TV Reliance SD
KCLO-TV Rapid City SD
KLFY-TV Lafayette LA
