Tegna to be taken private in a $5.4 billion cash deal by Standard General

Tegna Inc. announced Tuesday an agreement to be acquired by privately held Standard General L.P. in a deal with an equity value of about $5.4 billion. Shares of the media company, which has 64 TV stations and owns networks including True Crime Network, were currently halted for news. Under terms of the deal, Standard General will pay $24 in cash for each Tegna share outstanding, which represents a 14.6% premium to Friday’s closing price of $20.95, and a price the stock hasn’t traded at since September 2007. After the deal closes, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2022, Tegna stations in Austin, Dallas and Houston are expected to be acquired by Cox Media Group from Standard General. “After evaluating this opportunity against TEGNA’s standalone prospects and other strategic alternatives, our board concluded that this transaction maximizes value for TEGNA shareholders,” said Tegna Chairman Howard Elias. Tegna’s stock, which was up 5.7% preamrket prior to the trading halt, has slipped 1.1% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has declined 7.1%.

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