MEDIA GENERAL COMPLETES CHATTANOOGA SALE
Morris Multimedia Inc. today completed its purchase of Media General’s CBS affiliate WDEF Chattanooga, Tenn. The final sales price was approximately $23 million, including working capital.
Media General announced the sale of WDEF to Morris Multimedia on Aug, 1. Media General completed the sale of its CBS television stations in Wichita, Kan. (together with its three satellite stations) on Sept. 25 and the divestiture of its CBS stations in Birmingham, Ala., and Mason City, Iowa, yesterday.
Marshall N. Morton, president and chief executive officer of Media General, said: “We are delighted to have completed all of our planned CBS station divestitures that we announced in July in just over two months, well before our target date of the end of this year, and to have substantially exceeded our original expectations of net proceeds available for debt repayment. We wish our former employees well and thank them for their dedicated service.”
Gross proceeds from the divestitures were approximately $135 million, including working capital. The transactions in the aggregate represent a multiple of 15 times 2004-05 average broadcast cash flow for the divested stations. Media General will facilitate these transactions as a tax-deferred, like-kind exchange in conjunction with the acquisition of the four NBC stations completed on June 26, 2006. Net after-tax proceeds of approximately $125 million will be used for debt repayment.
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