Sinclair, one of the biggest owners of broadcast stations in the U.S., will explore M&A opportunities for its broadcast TV business.
The media company, which owns, operates and/or provides services to 178 television stations in 81 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks, announced Monday that it will launch a comprehensive strategic review of its broadcast branch, which will “evaluate all value-enhancing opportunities, including acquisitions, strategic partnerships and business combinations.”
Potential partners could include those in the broadcast and the broader media and technology ecosystem, according to Sinclair, and the company will also evaluate the benefits of separating its ventures through a “spin-off, split-off, or other transaction.”
“Scale wins in today’s broadcast industry, and we intend to lead that consolidation,” Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley said. “Our broadcast business’ industry-leading performance positions us as the partner of choice for value creation. Simultaneously, we expect separating ventures will crystallize significant value that the market has overlooked within our current structure, giving us even more flexibility to drive our broadcast strategy forward.”
Shares of Sinclair surged 27% in after-hours trading on Monday following the announcement.
The news comes in the wake of M&A activity within the broadcast space, with Grey Media set to acquire ABC-Fox-CBS-NBC affiliate stations in 10 markets from Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group for $171 million, while Nexstar is in advanced talks to acquire Tegna, which owns and operates 64 television stations in 51 markets.
Sinclair owns owns the Tennis Channel, multicast networks Charge, Comet, Roar and the Nest, as well as NewsOn, the streaming aggregator of local news content.
