The shareholders of Media General and LIN Media have approved the merger between the two companies.
The two station groups announced the news and reaffirmed the newly merged company will be called Media General to be headed by Vincent Sadusky, LIN’s current president and CEO, upon closing of the deal.
The station groups also announced the leadership structure under Sadusky. James Woodward will be SVP and CFO, Deborah McDermott will be SVP and COO, Robert Richter will be SVP and chief digital officer, while Andrew Carington will be VP and general counsel.
The station groups also said the two companies are committed to the deal and ready for approval:
The integration planning teams, co-led by senior leaders of both companies, have been working diligently for the past several months to ensure business continuity, synergy attainment, and customer and talent retention. These teams have developed detailed work plans for their functional areas and based on their integration planning work to date, as well as the substantial progress made to obtain all required regulatory approvals, the companies reaffirm confidence in their ability to realize approximately $70 million of annual run-rate synergies within three years, and expect to close on the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2014.
“This announcement is an important step on the critical path to ensuring the company is prepared to hit the ground running once we receive the necessary regulatory approvals,” Sadusky said in a statement. “After the merger is complete, we will have one of the strongest leadership teams in the industry. Their expertise and dedication gives me even more confidence that we will deliver on our promise to build a stronger, more efficient company that will compete effectively in the rapidly evolving media landscape.”