Standard General to acquire Tegna for $8.6 Billion

[Adam MadMan 285]

Standard General has pledged not to instigate any layoffs in newsrooms for two years after the merger.

 

Like how the Redstones promised not to invoke a Viacom/CBS merger for two years after Les Moonves got MeToo'd; they merged on their own one year later. Just to give you an example of how much faith I have in this promise. I can easily imagine there's a loophole there, just like there was with Viacom/CBS.

[DirtyHarry 727]

21 hours ago, Adam MadMan said:

Standard General has pledged not to instigate any layoffs in newsrooms for two years after the merger.

 

Like how the Redstones promised not to invoke a Viacom/CBS merger for two years after Les Moonves got MeToo'd; they merged on their own one year later. Just to give you an example of how much faith I have in this promise. I can easily imagine there's a loophole there, just like there was with Viacom/CBS.

 

A bankster's word is as good as counterfeit money or, for that matter, the word of the US government.

Edited December 24, 2022 by DirtyHarry

[Rusty Muck 4368]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:39 PM, Adam MadMan said:

Standard General has pledged not to instigate any layoffs in newsrooms for two years after the merger.

 

Like how the Redstones promised not to invoke a Viacom/CBS merger for two years after Les Moonves got MeToo'd; they merged on their own one year later. Just to give you an example of how much faith I have in this promise. I can easily imagine there's a loophole there, just like there was with Viacom/CBS.

The desperation is extremely palpable on Soo’s end. He knows the deal is doomed because the FCC and DOJ are outright sitting on it; therefore, he’s making promises he knows he and Apollo won’t keep.

[GoldenShine9 1513]

If they weren't seduced and accepted the Byron Allen offer, I guarantee you the deal would have been completed by now.

[DENDude 217]

As much as I believe this deal is dead, it appears they have extended the deadline for FCC approval to February?

 

If I were Tegna I would just walk away now and maybe go find a different party to merge with.   This is crazy.   Better yet don't merge at all, invest into your local news product ( ha ha ha Who are we kidding) and just look at this attempted transaction in your rearview mirror.

Edited December 26, 2022 by DENDude

[DirtyHarry 727]

1 hour ago, DENDude said:

As much as I believe this deal is dead, it appears they have extended the deadline for FCC approval to February?

 

If I were Tegna I would just walk away now and maybe go find a different party to merge with.   This is crazy.   Better yet don't merge at all, invest into your local news product ( ha ha ha Who are we kidding) and just look at this attempted transaction in your rearview mirror.

 

I have half a mind to write my own letter. I wouldn't use my name though. Silence Dogood?

[ABC 7 Denver 1714]

4 hours ago, DENDude said:

As much as I believe this deal is dead, it appears they have extended the deadline for FCC approval to February?

 

If I were Tegna I would just walk away now and maybe go find a different party to merge with.   This is crazy.   Better yet don't merge at all, invest into your local news product ( ha ha ha Who are we kidding) and just look at this attempted transaction in your rearview mirror.

 

I know why you say this, but you know that Tegna won't invest more. If the shareholders want to continue to earn dividends, the current structure is ideal. It continues to reduce debt and prioritizes the shareholders.

[DirtyHarry 727]

13 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

I know why you say this, but you know that Tegna won't invest more. If the shareholders want to continue to earn dividends, the current structure is ideal. It continues to reduce debt and prioritizes the shareholders.

 

It's still better than a bankster run corporation. Especially when the bankster is using foreign money, with that foreign money coming from hedge funds and whatnot. At least a public corporation is going to be theoretically more independent and more American.

 

If you think that foreign money doesn't influence the propaganda you see on the nightly news, you're naive. I wish the system were better, but it isn't. Global finance has f***ed this country.

[Samantha 2895]

The length of time this deal has taken to be considered would be a factor.

 

Should this deal fall apart or face federal (DOJ/FCC) opposition, the investment climate is a lot colder than it was when Tegna was soliciting buyers. Higher interest rates, less froth, lower stock prices, etc.

[DirtyHarry 727]

42 minutes ago, Samantha said:

The length of time this deal has taken to be considered would be a factor.

 

Should this deal fall apart or face federal (DOJ/FCC) opposition, the investment climate is a lot colder than it was when Tegna was soliciting buyers. Higher interest rates, less froth, lower stock prices, etc.

 

Good!

 

At least from the standpoint of the viewer, an independent Tegna is better than a low-rent bankster-run Tegna. At least coming out of a newspaper heritage, they have some semblance of serving the public and understanding what's interesting to them. 

[Rusty Muck 4368]

18 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

I know why you say this, but you know that Tegna won't invest more. If the shareholders want to continue to earn dividends, the current structure is ideal. It continues to reduce debt and prioritizes the shareholders.

A company that can't sell itself because the economy is in a limbo and interest rates are no longer dirt cheap is not a good thing. That it’s a company which is also too big to fail makes it even worse. (That being said, it IS a better position than seeing Apollo de facto run the company and controlling Soo Kim and Deb McDermott like a marionette, gutting the stations from the inside out and selling the IPs for king’s ransoms.)

 

The so-called “M&A Rolling Thunder” cheered on in some places (cough Harry Jessel cough) was abject poison on the television industry, and now the consequences of that foolish mentality are coming home to roost.

[Weeters 1915]

On 12/23/2022 at 12:39 PM, Adam MadMan said:

Standard General has pledged not to instigate any layoffs in newsrooms for two years after the merger.

 

Like how the Redstones promised not to invoke a Viacom/CBS merger for two years after Les Moonves got MeToo'd; they merged on their own one year later. Just to give you an example of how much faith I have in this promise. I can easily imagine there's a loophole there, just like there was with Viacom/CBS.

 

There's a lot of people at a TV station who don't work in the "newsroom". Engineering, Production, Marketing, Sales and all sorts of other positions that aren't considered "Newsroom" jobs. 

 

Anyone who still thinks this transaction would be a "good" thing for misguided reasons like "mAyBe tHeY'Ll rEpLaCe c-cLaRiTy" should realize that Standard's targets for cuts will ensure that these stations have zero "local flavor" ever again.

[Rusty Muck 4368]

23 hours ago, DENDude said:

As much as I believe this deal is dead, it appears they have extended the deadline for FCC approval to February?

The FCC reset the 180-day “shot clock” but the DOJ—the agency that determines divestments and market revenue concentration in M&As—has been curiously absent. Usually they’ll come out with a finding and recommendations but they have literally said nothing at all.

 

Given the fact Apollo (through financing the Tegna deal) would have an ownership stake in four TV stations in Jacksonville and three TV stations in Atlanta (plus non-insignificant radio clusters in both markets) the DOJ’s complete radio silence is unprecedented and tbqh a deal-breaker.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Myron Falwell

[DirtyHarry 727]

The entire business world has operated under some misguided theories this past couple of generations. One of them has to do with creative destruction. A lot of people's livelihoods have been ruined in numerous consumer businesses because this mentality has been allowed to run rampant throughout our economy. It has killed the broadcast industry and made it irrelevant (although technology and a multitude of choices is also part of that). There has been a lot of unnecessary sacrifice and disruption in our economy, mostly borne by employees of these takeover targets.

 

Screw the banksters, I hope this transaction fails. 

 

Just for reference, I am about as pro-business and conservative as they come. But that's not what happens these days. It's very little about building a better mouse trap and all about plundering what someone else built. They decimate every industry they touch and they've been a big part of the reason our economy has been hollowed out. Broadcasting has been destroyed enough by these people.

Edited December 27, 2022 by DirtyHarry

[ABC 7 Denver 1714]

23 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

The entire business world has operated under some misguided theories this past couple of generations. One of them has to do with creative destruction. A lot of people's livelihoods have been ruined in numerous consumer businesses because this mentality has been allowed to run rampant throughout our economy. It has killed the broadcast industry and made it irrelevant (although technology and a multitude of choices is also part of that). There has been a lot of unnecessary sacrifice and disruption in our economy, mostly borne by employees of these takeover targets.

 

Screw the banksters, I hope this transaction fails. 

 

Just for reference, I am about as pro-business and conservative as they come. But that's not what happens these days. It's very little about building a better mouse trap and all about plundering what someone else built. They decimate every industry they touch and they've been a big part of the reason our economy has been hollowed out. Broadcasting has been destroyed enough by these people.

 

You're exactly right! And I'm a Social Democrat agreeing with you. So you know this is cold water on the subject.

 

A few thoughts that I will add: As many pension accounts tie themselves to PE, returns are not as strong as they would be using the stock market or index funds. The only people who make out well in Private Equity are managers at the top. That industry itself is a sham.

 

Also, given the debt/equity ratio, companies like Sinclair, Gray, Scripps and Nexstar are known as zombie companies. When the debt comes due in the next few years, these businesses will not be able to refinance at a low interest rate and they will default. They have sold their shareholders a bill of good, mainly in economies of scale, that they cannot live up to. Tegna is one of the few groups of their size that can survive because they've intentionally been structured to pay down debt (the balance sheet transfer made when they split with Gannett).

Edited December 28, 2022 by ABC 7 Denver

[Rusty Muck 4368]

Huh, it’s almost like Scotty’s starting to slowly admit that this merger attempt is in fact doomed to failure, if it hasn’t already.

 

Quote

It appears that a decision likely not being made until at least early February.

So Google Translate is ghosting for Scotty now?

[PTVNews 194]

On 12/27/2022 at 12:48 PM, ABC 7 Denver said:

Tegna is one of the few groups of their size that can survive because they've intentionally been structured to pay down debt (the balance sheet transfer made when they split with Gannett).

 

Can you explain this more? I'd like to understand it better. Thanks!

[ABC 7 Denver 1714]

On 1/2/2023 at 4:17 AM, PTVNews said:

 

Can you explain this more? I'd like to understand it better. Thanks!

 

Sure! When TEGNA split with Gannett, Gannett was saddled with a lot of debt and at the time of the split, Gannett would not have been able to pay it down given the meager success of their newspapers. The television group, on the other hand, had the ability to pay down that debt if they were structured effectively. This structure separation would help the papers survive as a pure-pay business. So when the split happened, TEGNA, which is technically the original Gannett (same business license) with a new name kept the debt tied to that legal entity, and new Gannett (new business license) kept the papers, their debt tied to the legal entity that is now Tegna.

Edited January 5, 2023 by ABC 7 Denver

[Big Rollo Smokes 260]

Soo Kim will be talking with Roland Martin tomorrow (1/3) on Martin's webcast. FYI...

[ABC 7 Denver 1714]

On 1/2/2023 at 10:06 PM, Big Rollo Smokes said:

Soo Kim will be talking with Roland Martin tomorrow (1/3) on Martin's webcast. FYI...

 

How much wheeling and dealing is Kim doing to make these optics look good?

Edited January 5, 2023 by ABC 7 Denver

[PTVNews 194]

On 1/2/2023 at 9:02 PM, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Sure! When TEGNA split with Gannett, Gannett was saddled with a lot of debt and at the time of the split. Gannett would not have been able to pay it down given the meager success of their newspapers. The television group, on the other hand, had the ability to pay down that debt if they were structured effectively. This structure separation would help the papers survive as a pure-pay business. So when the split happened, TEGNA, which is technically the original Gannett (same business license) with a new name kept the debt tied to that legal entity, and new Gannett (new business license) kept the papers, their debt tied to the legal entity that is now Tegna.

 

Thanks! So what is it about that structure that puts them in a better position than other station groups? Seems like taking on the debt would be burdensome in some ways, but you say they are "structured" to handle it well. What does that mean exactly?

Edited January 5, 2023 by PTVNews

[ABC 7 Denver 1714]

8 hours ago, PTVNews said:

 

Thanks! So what is it about that structure that puts them in a better position than other station groups? Seems like taking on the debt would be burdensome in some ways, but you say they are "structured" to handle it well. What does that mean exactly?

 

While I was an investor in BELO, I'm not an investor in TEGNA. So I can't take a look at the Shareholders Financial Statements. I suspect though, generally, they are bringing in more revenue with which to pay down debt than their operating costs. Shedding syndicated programming, standardizing Creative Services and reducing operational overhead, like off-air staff, etc, are effective ways to manage these costs. This is just coming from someone who took several accounting classes though.

[Megatron81 258]

Byron Allen been speaking to members of congress trying to stop the Standard General & TEGNA merger NY Post reported on it last week on there website. I'll let someone else to link it I'm not good at it when it comes to articles. Loos like The DOJ will approve the merger in Feb.

[MidwestTV 1232]

The termination deal has been extended (again) until May. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3938830-tegna-gains-as-deal-termination-extended-three-months More likely than not the sale will be finalized by late spring.

Edited February 23, 2023 by MidwestTV

[DirtyHarry 727]

2 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

The termination deal has been extended (again) until May. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3938830-tegna-gains-as-deal-termination-extended-three-months More likely than not the sale will be finalized by late spring.

 

There are only four FCC commissioners right now, two Republican and two Democrat. I'm not sure whether they have to vote on this or not, but if they do, this thing will be deadlocked forever. Let the bankster twist in the wind.