Boston 25 TV station part of giant $8.6B deal

 

Boston 25 TV station part of giant $8.6B deal

By JOE DWINELL | joed@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald

PUBLISHED: February 22, 2022 at 6:15 p.m.

Buried beneath stories of stolen puppies and a lumbering moose in Marlboro is the news that Boston 25 News and its station, WFXT, has been sold as part of a blockbuster $8.6 billion deal.

Standard General L.P. and Cox Media Group announced in a press release Tuesday that the former Fox 25 is now part of a swap that lands the local station under new ownership.

Soo Kim, the founding partner of Standard General L.P., said in a release, “We are delighted to be acquiring WFXT/Boston, which will serve as a foundation for our new station group and provide our new company with a historic legacy from its very start.”

It’s all part of a pact with Apollo Global Management to acquire TV station owner Tegna for $24 a share, or roughly $8.6 billion, according to the New York Post.

Tegna stock has jumped on the news of the mega-deal, and according to Barron’s, the board chairman said “this transaction maximizes value for Tegna shareholders.” With the stock up more than 7% just before the markets closed Tuesday, he appears to be correct.

Cox bosses said in the statement announcing the sale that “we will miss the dedicated team at WFXT Boston25, but we know they will form an ideal foundation for Standard General’s new company and its further growth.”

Tegna is the separate TV arm of newspaper giant Gannett and it operates 64 TV and two radio stations nationwide, according to published reports. It also owns True Crime, Twist and Quest networks.

It’s not clear yet what it will mean for the Boston station. This deal has been in the works for a while and must still be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Cox does get Tegna’s Texas stations in Austin, Dallas and Houston in the transaction.

Standard General is a hedge fund that has made moves on RadioShack Corp. and has been buying up casinos through its Twin River Worldwide Holdings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Cox is also landing WLNE-TV (ABC) in New Bedford, and stations in Missouri, Nebraska and Kentucky.

Byron Allen, who owns the Weather Channel among other stations, was also said to be involved in the mega-deal, but was not mentioned in the transaction.

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