21 Sep Broadcaster Tegna Said to Get Bids From Apollo, Byron Allen

By By Scott Deveau, Gerry Smith, and Liana Baker

The broadcaster Tegna Inc. has received takeover interest from media mogul Byron Allen and private equity giant Apollo Global Management Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Allen has teamed up with Ares Management Corp. to offer $23 per share, said one of the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. Apollo made an all-cash offer of roughly $22 per-share along with co-bidder Standard General, one of Tegna’s largest shareholders, the people said.

Tegna said in a statement it would review acquisition proposals.

Tegna shares rose 4.9% to $20.39 at 2:25 p.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of about $4.5 billion. The stock has gained 46% this year.

Representatives for Allen, Apollo and Ares declined to comment. A representative for Standard General wasn’t immediately available for comment. Tegna declined to comment on specific offers.

Standard General is Tegna’s fourth-largest shareholder with a 4.8% stake. It has pushed for change at the broadcaster, arguing that current leadership oversaw a series of missteps, including failing to find a buyer.

Standard General tried and failed in 2020 and 2021 to revamp Tegna’s board.

Tegna separated in 2015 from Gannett Co. Inc., the local newspaper giant. Talks with at least four potential bidders, including Apollo, fell apart last year at the height of the pandemic in the U.S.

Apollo has been amassing a local-TV empire, having bought more than a dozen stations from Cox Media Group in 2019.

Details on the Tegna bids were reported earlier in the New York Post and Dealreporter.

— With assistance by Christopher Palmeri