Tegna accepts takeover bid

Article Excerpt

TEGNA INC. $22 is now a hold. The company (New York symbol TGNA, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 221.3 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tegna.com) owns 64 TV stations and two radio stations in 51 U.S. markets. Tegna has accepted a $24.00-a-share takeover offer from private equity firm Standard General. The buyer expects to complete the purchase by the end of 2022. As part of the deal, Standard will sell five of Tegna’s stations in Texas to Cox Media Group. That will also give Cox a non-voting interest in a new entity controlling Tegna. That arrangement could pose an obstacle for regulators. As a result, Standard will pay Tegna shareholders an extra $0.05 a share per month (called a “ticking fee”) if the deal takes longer than nine months to close. That fee rises in stages to $0.125 a share in the 15th month and beyond. Tegna is a hold. hold…