Nexstar makes bid for Media General, Meredith hangs in the balance
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Sep 28, 2015 | 4:15 pm
1 min read time
213 wordsAll Latest News, Retail and BusinessNexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. offered to buy local-television station owner Media General Inc. in a bold attempt to break up Media General’s recent agreement to buy Meredith Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported.
Nexstar Chairman and CEO Perry Sook sent a letter this morning to Media General’s board offering $14.50 a share for the company. The offer includes $10.50 in cash and 0.0898 Nexstar shares for each Media General share, according to the letter, which was released after The Wall Street Journal reported on the bid.
The proposal, which values the Richmond, Va., company at about $1.85 billion, represents a premium of 30 percent over Media General’s closing price on Sept. 25 of $11.15 a share. Including Media General’s debt, it is worth some $4.1 billion. Media General shares soared 26 percent on the news to $14.10. Nexstar rose 4.5 percent to $46.52, while Meredith slumped 5.7 percent to $43.39.
Media General earlier this month said it agreed to buy Meredith for about $2.4 billion in cash and stock. Including debt, the deal, which must be approved by both companies’ shareholders, was valued at $3.1 billion. Media General shareholders didn’t react well, driving down the company’s stock that day even though it has since regained ground-in part on speculation Nexstar would make a bid.
Trending News
