Media General OKs $120M Share Repurchase

Media General Inc. has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $120 million.

The  company said it expects  to  fund  the  share  repurchase  by  using  the  approximately  $120  million  of  cash proceeds  from  the  sale  of  WJAR Providence, R.I., that  was  completed  in  connection  with  the  merger  with  LIN  Media.

Those proceeds, which were deposited with a qualified intermediary, will be released to the company in June.   Any  share  repurchases  made  prior  to  the  release  of  the  cash  proceeds  are  expected  to  be funded temporarily from cash on hand or borrowings under the company’s revolving credit facility.

Vincent  Sadusky,  the company’s president-CEO, said: “Although we had hoped to use the WJAR-TV sale proceeds to acquire one or more television stations in a transaction  qualifying  as  a  like-kind  exchange,  we  were  unable  to  identify  acquisition  opportunities  that met  our  rigorous  acquisition  standards.

“We decided that, absent such an acquisition, the best way to deliver long-term value for all  of  our  shareholders  is  to  use  these  sale  proceeds  to  repurchase  shares  and  return  cash  to  our shareholders.  As  we  previously  indicated,  we  intend  to  remain  focused  on  using  the  free  cash  flow  we generate from our operations to de-lever our balance sheet.”