Tegna to be taken private by Standard General in $5.4bn deal

TV broadcaster Tegna has agreed to be bought by hedge fund Standard General for $5.4bn.

Under the terms of the deal, Standard General will pay $24 per share in cash. This represents 39% premium to the unaffected Tegna closing share price on 14 September.

Tegna chairman Howard D. Elias said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Standard General, which follows a thorough review of acquisition proposals received by the company. After evaluating this opportunity against Tegna’s standalone prospects and other strategic alternatives, our board concluded that this transaction maximises value for Tegna shareholders.

"Thanks to the team’s stellar execution of the company’s value-creation strategy, Tegna has positioned itself as a leading broadcast television group serving the greater good of the communities in which we operate - and as a private company will have an enhanced ability to keep evolving its local news, programming, and marketing solutions to serve its communities in a rapidly changing media landscape."

The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.