Scripps Buying Ion in $2.65B Deal With Berkshire Assist, 23 TV Station Divestitures
E.W. Scripps agreed to buy Ion Media in a $2.65 billion deal expected to close in Q1, with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway taking a $600 million investment in the buyer to help pay for the takeover. Scripps will divest 23 Ion stations, saying it has a buyer that will maintain the outlets' Ion affiliations.
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The divestitures would "allow the merged company to fully comply with the FCC local and national ownership regulations," Scripps said Thursday morning. An entity controlled by Black Diamond Capital Management owns Ion.
Ion distributes its programming through TV stations it owns in 62 markets and "elects government-mandated must-carry provisions for cable distribution rather than negotiating for retransmission revenue, thereby ensuring its programming is available on cable and satellite systems," Scripps said. A conference call about the takeover is ongoing here. A Scripps spokesperson said she had no immediate comment, and Ion didn't comment to us right away.
The FCC didn't have an immediate comment. Stakeholders that often support such transactions and those that often oppose them didn't comment right away.