Media General Buying Meredith for $2.4B

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Media General said it agree to buy Meredith Corp. for $2.4 billion.

The transaction would continue the consolidation of the television broadcast station business.

The new combined company will be called Meredith Media Co. and will own 88 stations in 54 markets reaching 30% of U.S. households. It will also own Meredith’s magazine group, which includes Better Home and Gardens and Shape.

J. Stewart Bryan III, current Media General chairman, will be chairman of Meredith Media General. Meredith’s Stephen Lay will be CEO.

"This merger creates greater opportunities for profitable growth than either company could achieve on its own. Importantly, shareholders of both companies will benefit from the upside potential of a diversified and strategically well-positioned media company with a strong financial profile and the ability to generate significant free cash flow,” said Bryan. 

Read more at B&C. 

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.