Bloomberg reports Meredith Corp. is about to “walk away” from its deal with Media General and, instead, let Nexstar have its way.
Meredith and Nexstar have been sweetening and re-sweetening deals intended to woo Media General’s shareholders in an attempt to be the one that gets to merge with the station group.
Bloomberg says “people familiar with the matter” tell them Meredith has been negotiating a $60 million consolation prize to walk away from its deal.
The pact may include a first look at certain TV stations and digital businesses, in case Meredith wants to buy them as divestitures from a combined Nexstar-Media General, said two of the people. The termination agreement could be announced as soon as Wednesday, when Meredith releases its quarterly results.
Media General initially agreed to acquire Meredith for $2.4 billion in September. Nexstar later offered to buy Media General, eventually reaching an agreement for about $2.3 billion. But that deal can’t move forward until Meredith releases Media General from its commitment. Meredith had previously refused Media General’s attempts to terminate their merger agreement, threatening to force a shareholder vote.
A Meredith spokesperson had no comment for TVSpy.