TV Station M&A Volume Hits $4.2B In 2Q

The volume of TV station mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. reached $4.22 billion in the second quarter of 2017, according to estimates from Kagan, a group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. Of that, $3.82 billion came from just one deal.

On May 8, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. announced a successful bid for Tribune Media Co. The $43.50-per-share price represents $3.94 billion in cash and equity and the assumption of approximately $2.70 billion in net debt.

As far as the broadcast assets are concerned, at a 7.5x 2017-18 average seller’s cash flow multiple, Kagan estimates the value of Tribune’s 44 TV stations, including three stations operated through local marketing agreements, at $3.76 billion.

The purchase also included one AM radio station and the programming of one FM station, bringing the total broadcast value of the transaction to $3.82 billion.

In addition to the mega-deal, the TV deal market registered transactions worth $403 million. The second-largest TV deal of the quarter again involved Sinclair, which on April 21 announced the acquisition of Bonten Media Group and its 17 full-power and five low-power TV stations, including five LMAs, for $240.0 million.

In the largest deal by number of licenses since 2011, Edge Spectrum, acquired the licenses for 196 low-power TV stations and construction permits to meet the spectrum requirements for its planned nationwide IP broadcasting network. Edge Spectrum paid a total of $72 million to several subsidiaries of EICB TV LLC and to Grace Worship Center Inc.

In the third-largest full-power TV transaction, Saga Communications left the TV industry, selling its six remaining owned-and-operated stations and three LMAs to Morgan Murphy Media for $66.6 million. At the same time, Saga expanded its radio business with the third-largest radio deal of the quarter, paying $23 million to Apex Media Corp. for seven FM stations, one AM and four translators.