Kansas City, MO - Newport television, LLC announced today that it has signed three separate agreements to sell 22 television stations throughout the United States to Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., and Cox Media Group. The total value of these transactions is approximately $1 Billion, representing an aggregate LTM EBITDA multiple of 11.4x.
Details regarding the individual transactions are as follows:
- Nexstar Broadcasting has purchased 12 TV stations, including: KYVX and KUCW (Salt Lake City, UT); KLRT and KASN (Little Rock, AK); WPTY and WLMT (Memphis, TN); WJKT (Jackson, TN); WSYR (Syracuse, NY); WETM (Elmira, NY); WIVT and WBGH (Binghamton, NY); and WWTI (Watertown, NY). Nexstar Broadcasting also purchased Newport's Inergize Digital Media operations.
- Sinclair Broadcast purchased 6 TV stations, including: WOAI (San Antonio, TX); WHP (Harrisburg, PA); WKRC (Cincinnati, OH); WPMI (Mobile, AL); KSAS and KMTW (Wichita, KS); Sinclair is also purchasing Newport's rights to program and operate WLYH (Harrisburg, PA) and KMTW (Witchita, KS) pursuant to local marketing agreements.
- Cox Media Group purchased 4 TV stations, including: WAWS and WTEV (Jacksonville, FL); and KOKI and KMYT (Tulsa, OK).
The Company is continuing to pursue a sale of its 5 remaining stations: KGET (Bakersfield, CA); KGPE (Fresno, CA); WHAM (Rochester, NY); WXXA (Albany, NY); and KMTR (Eugene, OR).
Sandy DiPasquale, President and Chief Executive Officer, said " These divestitures are the result of a thoughtful strategic review process conducted by the Board to maximize value at Newport and we believe these high quality TV stations will have a bright future with their new Owners. Nexstar, Sinclair and Cox are well suited to foster continued success at each of these stations. We are in discussions with potential buyers of our remaining stations and are confident we will the right new owner for each of them."
Al Dobron, a Managing Director at Providence Equity, which owns a majority stake in Newport, commented, "We thank Sandy and everyone at Newport for their outstanding contributions to the company's strong performance over the past 4 years. We are pleased with the value that we have added together and expect these stations to continue their success in the years ahead."
The transactions are each subject to regulatory approval and are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012. Moelis & Company is acting as Newport's exclusive financial advisor, Weil, Gotshal and Manges is acting as its legal advisor and Covington & Burling is acting as its regulatory counsel on the transactions.
About Newport:Newport is a television broadcasting company that owns or operates 29 stations and an additional 27 stations distributed as digital multicast streams, for a total of 56 television stations in 20 markets across the United States. Newport's owned or operated stations are affiliated with the FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, CW and other networks.
About Providence Equity Partners:Providence Equity partners is the leading global private equity firm specializing in equity investments in media, communications, education and information companies around the world. The principals of Providence manage funds with over $23 billion in equity commitments and have invested in over 100 companies operating in over 20 countries since the firm's inception in 1989. Significant existing and prior investments include ABTL (Indus Towers), Ategrity, AutoTrader.com, Digiturk, Education Management Corporation, eircom, Grupo TorreSur, Hulu, ikaSystems, Idea Cellular, Kabel Deutschland, NEW Asurion, Nextag, PanAmSat, ProSiebenSat.1, iQiyi, Study Group, World Triathlon Corporation, Trilogy International Partners and Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, London, Hong Kong, Beijing and New Delhi. Visit provequity.com for more information.
