Standard General to acquire Tegna for $8.6 Billion

[Adam MadMan 285]

4 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

Incredibly, Soo is yelling at the FCC to vote on the deal anyway instead of sending this to an ALJ. Because that’s exactly what you should do, said no one ever.

Bullying the FCC chairperson to vote for your deal when she tacitly rejected it in the ALJ order might be THE ultimate galaxy brain move.

Given all the crap he's pulled, between his past ripping apart of companies, Sinclair-level shell company tactics, and shameless exploitation of historically marginalized groups as a shield against any and all criticism, he frankly deserves to lose the case.

 

Tegna as it has been in the past few years has been a mess, as a few people here have pointed out, but would letting the company fall into the hands of a Machiavellian bankster be any better for the stations involved?

[mre29 1513]

4 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

I’m taken aback by Soo bullying the FCC to vote on the deal. He’s given the D commissioners every reason in the book now to vote “no”, so it’ll fail in at least a 2–2 tie. Is he hoping for it to fail so he can litigate and cry that the system is prejudiced against him? Or is he consumed by delusions of grandeur? Or both??

 

It'd be poetic justice if he manages to push at least one of the R commissioners into changing their position.

 

But based on who nominated them, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Rusty Muck 4366]

19 hours ago, Adam MadMan said:

Given all the crap he's pulled, between his past ripping apart of companies, Sinclair-level shell company tactics, and shameless exploitation of historically marginalized groups as a shield against any and all criticism, he frankly deserves to lose the case.

 

Tegna as it has been in the past few years has been a mess, as a few people here have pointed out, but would letting the company fall into the hands of a Machiavellian bankster be any better for the stations involved?

Tegna has every right now to terminate the deal and sue him for breach of contract because the FCC issued this HDO. The buyout agreement actually contains that provision.

 

h/t @Samantha

 

Quote

Section 8.1 Termination or Abandonment. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, this Agreement may be terminated and abandoned at any time prior to the Teton Merger Effective Time, whether before or after the Company Stockholder Approval (except as otherwise provided in this Agreement), only as follows (it being understood and agreed that this Agreement may not be terminated for any other reason or on any other basis): ...

(c) (i) by either the Company or Parent, if an Order by a Governmental Entity of competent jurisdiction in the United States shall have been issued permanently restraining, enjoining or otherwise prohibiting the consummation of the Teton Merger and such Order shall have become final and nonappealable or (ii) by the Company or Parent, if the FCC issues a Hearing Designation Order with respect to the Teton Merger or the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement; provided, however, that the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 8.1(c) shall not be available to a party if such Order was primarily attributable to the material breach by such party of any representation, warranty, covenant or other agreement of such party set forth in this Agreement; …

So basically, Soo has next to no leverage against Tegna despite his huffing and puffing and crying and whining. They hold all of the relevant cards now.

[mre29 1513]

So here's a question I just thought of:  If the deal falls through (as it should), what happens to the sale of Standard Media's stations (KBSI/WDKA, WLNE, and KLKN) to Coxpollo and Coxpollo's WFXT to Standard Media? Is that deal strictly contingent on the larger Tegna deal, or does Apollo have its own reason to sue SG for breach of contract?

 

[Rusty Muck 4366]

33 minutes ago, mre29 said:

So here's a question I just thought of:  If the deal falls through (as it should), what happens to the sale of Standard Media's stations (KBSI/WDKA, WLNE, and KLKN) to Coxpollo and Coxpollo's WFXT to Standard Media? Is that deal strictly contingent on the larger Tegna deal, or does Apollo have its own reason to sue SG for breach of contract?

 

It’d be hilarious if Apollo sued Soo. (Try to say that three times fast!)

[CircleSeven 1955]

2 hours ago, mre29 said:

So here's a question I just thought of:  If the deal falls through (as it should), what happens to the sale of Standard Media's stations (KBSI/WDKA, WLNE, and KLKN) to Coxpollo and Coxpollo's WFXT to Standard Media? Is that deal strictly contingent on the larger Tegna deal, or does Apollo have its own reason to sue SG for breach of contract?

The three related transfers are all tied together with the big Tegna deal. If the big deal gets scuttled, the other related deals are also scuttled as well. 

5 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

So basically, Soo has next to no leverage against Tegna despite his huffing and puffing and crying and whining. They hold all of the relevant cards now.

Soo continues to make a complete ass out of himself, begging the FCC to vote, after they just handed him that HDO paper. Once they hand that paper, it's no longer in the Commissioners' hands. It's in the ALJ's hands now.

 

What Soo needs to do right now, while he's barking at the FCC, he needs to be pleading with the Tegna board to not sue him when the outside date hits in May for all that wasted time. 

 

[Big Rollo Smokes 260]

As a sidebar: Remember when I posted about Roland Martin's interview with Soo Kim a few weeks back?

 

It seems that Roland had more than a journalistic interest. He's advocating for the deal to get FCC-approved because there's a lot at stake for him and, in his words, all POC-owned media concerns.

Edited March 1, 2023 by Big Rollo Smokes

[mre29 1513]

Is he aware that the issues with the deal have absolutely nothing to do with Soo Kim being a POC?

 

Also, I think Byron Allen might like to have a word with him...

 

 

[Big Rollo Smokes 260]

14 minutes ago, mre29 said:

Is he aware that the issues with the deal have absolutely nothing to do with Soo Kim being a POC?

 

Also, I think Byron Allen might like to have a word with him...

 

 

Part of Roland's argument is that media companies wholly-owned by minorities–specifically Black-owned ones–still get the short end of the stick in regards to advertising support. And in that respect he is correct. (Look to the failure of the Black News Channel if you want a recent example.) So he sees this potential alliance as a way to force the mainstream ad community to finally pay attention.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

Soo Kim needs to move on and buy another distressed retailer.  Look what happened to Radio Shack under his watch.

[ColtFromGulfcoast 707]

1 hour ago, Big Rollo Smokes said:

As a sidebar: Remember when I posted about Roland Martin's interview with Soo Kim a few weeks back?

 

It seems that Roland had more than a journalistic interest. He's advocating for the deal to get FCC-approved because there's a lot at stake for him and, in his words, all POC-owned media concerns.

Okay, but he could have struck this deal with any other group. 

 

Why does he have to do it with Tegna?? Why couldn't he do it with Gray?? Nexstar? Hearst??? Or one of the network groups???

Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day when I would call someone dumber than Chris Ripley and David Smith but here we go. I thought Soo Kim would at least have the sense God gave a fireant. Evidently not. It's so ridiculous until I have to just laugh. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by ColtFromGulfcoast

[channel2 977]

TEGNA has one class of stock, no controlling shareholder, and is much easier to push around. Gray is protected from a takeover by the way its stock is structured, Hearst is a huge private company and doesn't have to sell if they don't want to, and Nexstar is probably in too strong a position to be bullied into selling right now.

[Big Rollo Smokes 260]

5 hours ago, channel2 said:

TEGNA has one class of stock, no controlling shareholder, and is much easier to push around. Gray is protected from a takeover by the way its stock is structured, Hearst is a huge private company and doesn't have to sell if they don't want to, and Nexstar is probably in too strong a position to be bullied into selling right now.

I think the poster was referring to Roland Martin.

 

Again, Martin thought it would be more advantageous to partner with another "minority" who understood those challenges rather than one of those white-owned companies who may have only a handful of POC executives or board members. And remember, all of this is contingent on Standard General getting a firm go from the FCC.

Edited March 1, 2023 by Big Rollo Smokes

[ColtFromGulfcoast 707]

6 hours ago, channel2 said:

TEGNA has one class of stock, no controlling shareholder, and is much easier to push around. Gray is protected from a takeover by the way its stock is structured, Hearst is a huge private company and doesn't have to sell if they don't want to, and Nexstar is probably in too strong a position to be bullied into selling right now.

I wasn't referring to Kim. I was referring to Roland Martin. 

[mre29 1513]

5 hours ago, Big Rollo Smokes said:

Again, Martin thought it would be more advantageous to partner with another "minority" who understood those challenges rather than one of those white-owned companies who may have only a handful of POC executives or board members.

 

Which is why I'm surprised Martin didn't partner with Allen Media. Right now, the only advantage he gets from partnering with Kim/SG is Tegna's relatively greater reach in terms of reaching the population as the company owns stations in large markets that AM isn't in. But, of course, that's all hypothetical until Kim/SG actually owns the stations.

 

[Rusty Muck 4366]

On 2/28/2023 at 8:21 PM, Big Rollo Smokes said:

As a sidebar: Remember when I posted about Roland Martin's interview with Soo Kim a few weeks back?

 

It seems that Roland had more than a journalistic interest. He's advocating for the deal to get FCC-approved because there's a lot at stake for him and, in his words, all POC-owned media concerns.

So Soo arranged for multiple kickbacks with Roland, giving him multiple cross-platform crossovers with his own properties, and we’re just finding out about this?

 

Did Roland hope he could become another Armstrong Williams?

[ColtFromGulfcoast 707]

On 2/27/2023 at 10:59 AM, Myron Falwell said:

Is he hoping for it to fail so he can litigate and cry that the system is prejudiced against him

You know, I get those vibes myself. And the thing is, this is setting a dangerous precedent if that is indeed the case. 

 

All the man had to do was sell or even TRADE stations and this would have all been settled. 

[Adam MadMan 285]

And here comes the defense squad.

[nathannah 2401]

1 hour ago, Adam MadMan said:

And here comes the defense squad.

Yeah, because iCrime, the Bryron Allen SAG Card Court Show Mill and The Balancing Act are the most illustrious programs on broadcast television, Harry. Pleeeeeease! It's a bad deal for everyone.

[TennTV1983 801]

1 hour ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

You know, I get those vibes myself. And the thing is, this is setting a dangerous precedent if that is indeed the case. 

 

All the man had to do was sell or even TRADE stations and this would have all been settled. 

 

Exactly. Conflicts are conflicts. Sinclair tried doing this with Tribune and got dragged tremendously, so why should Soo Kim be treated any differently in this bad faith of a deal he's trying to pull off?

[ColtFromGulfcoast 707]

19 minutes ago, TennTV1983 said:

 

Exactly. Conflicts are conflicts. Sinclair tried doing this with Tribune and got dragged tremendously, so why should Soo Kim be treated any differently in this bad faith of a deal he's trying to pull off?

I'm gonna even do a "What should have happened" in speculatron 

[Rusty Muck 4366]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:06 PM, mre29 said:

Is he aware that the issues with the deal have absolutely nothing to do with Soo Kim being a POC?

 

Also, I think Byron Allen might like to have a word with him...

Byron bought his former employer (BNC) after they collapsed and used the distribution contracts (even on Pluto) for TheGrio.tv. So of course this comes off as payback and sheer pettiness on Roland’s part.

[DirtyHarry 727]

1 hour ago, mrschimpf said:

Yeah, because iCrime, the Bryron Allen SAG Card Court Show Mill and The Balancing Act are the most illustrious programs on broadcast television, Harry. Pleeeeeease! It's a bad deal for everyone.

 

LOL! Of course it won't push up cable bills. They still advertise cable for $89.99. they just tack on another $30 at the end. They killed the golden goose with their greed.

[Rusty Muck 4366]

2 hours ago, Adam MadMan said:

And here comes the defense squad.

Harry should know that there is no magic wand now that is going to be waved to save this deal. Let him debase himself with his “I never met a merger I didn’t like” stance.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Myron Falwell

[nycnewsjunkie 1439]

2 hours ago, Adam MadMan said:

And here comes the defense squad.

The columnist in question comes off as a lackey for large media groups. He seems to run defense for every M&A.

Edited March 2, 2023 by nycnewsjunkie