The New York Times Company has agreed to sell its nine television stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners for $575 million. “We believe… that our focus now should be on the development of our newspapers and our rapidly growing digital businesses and the increasing synergies between them,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO of The New York Times Company. The stations are WHO-TV in Des Moines, KFSM-TV in Ft. Smith, WHNT-TV in Huntsville, WREG-TV in Memphis, WQAD-TV in Moline, WTKR-TV in Norfolk, KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City and WNEP-TV in Scranton. Oak Hill Capital Partners is a private equity firm. “We look forward to maintaining the standard of excellence that The New York Times Company has achieved over the last 30 years,” said J. Taylor Crandall, a managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners. Press release follows below…
PRESS RELEASE –The New York Times Company has entered into an agreement to sell its Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their associated Web sites and the Digital Operating Center, to Oak Hill Capital Partners for $575 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2007.
The Broadcast Media Group comprises the following stations:
WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa (NBC)
KFSM-TV in Ft. Smith, Ark. (CBS)
WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Ala. (CBS)
WREG-TV in Memphis, Tenn. (CBS)
WQAD-TV in Moline, Ill. (ABC)
WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Va. (CBS)
KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, Okla. (NBC)
KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City, Okla. (MyNetworkTV)
WNEP-TV in Scranton, Penn. (ABC)
“These are strong, well-situated stations with very talented employees,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO of The New York Times Company. “Over the years they have provided their communities with high-quality programming and have contributed significantly to our financial performance. We believe, however, that our focus now should be on the development of our newspapers and our rapidly growing digital businesses and the increasing synergies between them.”
J. Taylor Crandall, a managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners, said, “The New York Times Company Broadcast Media Group is one of the industry’s most admired franchises because of its heritage television stations, its commitment to quality news and serving the local community, and its outstanding employees. We look forward to maintaining the standard of excellence that The New York Times Company has achieved over the last 30 years.”
Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Covington & Burling LLP acted as legal advisors to The New York Times Company. UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisor and Dow Lohnes PLLC acted as legal advisor to Oak Hill Capital Partners.
About The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2005 revenues of $3.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and 35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
About Oak Hill Capital Partners
Oak Hill Capital Partners is a private equity firm with more than $4.6 billion of committed capital from leading entrepreneurs, endowments, foundations, corporations, pension funds and global financial institutions. Robert M. Bass is the lead investor. Over a period of nearly 20 years, the professionals at Oak Hill Capital have invested in more than 50 significant private equity transactions. Oak Hill Capital is one of several Oak Hill partnerships, each of which has a dedicated and independent management team. These Oak Hill partnerships comprise over $20 billion of investment capital across multiple asset classes, including private equity, special situations, high yield and bank debt, venture capital, real estate, a public equity exchange fund and a global fixed income and equity hedge fund.