In the advent of the streaming wars and cord cutting, which have seen a decline in subscribers for pay TV, broadcast companies have resorted to consolidation. The latest attempt is Gray Television, which has put in an offer to acquire Tegna Inc. for $8.5 billion, Reuters reported.
Gray offered roughly $20 per share in cash and stock for Tegna, according to Reuters’ sources. Though the acquisition would add to Gray’s $3.8 billion debt, a source told Reuters the company has a plan in place to quickly pay down debt if the deal goes through.
As it stands, there is no guarantee that Tegna will accept Gray Television’s lump some offer, as they have also been in talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc., a source told Reuters.
In December 2018, Nexstar Media Group agreed to buy Tribune Media for $4.1 billion, after a $3.9 billion sale to Sinclair was called off months prior. The FCC later approved the merger, which saw Nexstar add Tribune Media’s 42 local stations to Nexstar’s 174 stations.
The deal was expected to see Nexstar’s reach grow from 39 to 42 percent of U.S. television households. But as part of the agreement with the FCC, Nexstar had tp sell some of their stations to Scripps, Tegna and Circle City Broadcasting.