One of the largest acquisitions of local affiliates which would have given Sinclair access to 70% of U.S. Households is now dead. This morning Tribune called off their merger with Sinclair because their felt Sinclair did not “use its reasonable best efforts to obtain regulatory approval.”
Additionally, while Sinclair had proposed selling 23 local affiliates, there were concerns from the FCC that the divestures were a ‘sham transactions’ that allowed them to maintain operational control.
The merger agreement allowed either company to walk away from the deal if it didn’t close by August 8, but Tribune is suing for more than $1B to recover losses due to what they feel is a breach of agreement.
As a result of the canceled deal, Sinclair’s agreement to sell seven Tribune stations to 21st Century Fox is now off.