Merger Morass: NAB Rips FCC For Trying To Send $8.6B Tegna-Standard General Deal To “Regulatory Purgatory”
deadline.comThe National Association of Broadcasters is trying to stimulate forward momentum in the stalled review of private equity firm Standard General’s takeover of major TV station group Tegna.
The $8.6 billion deal requires only the approval of the Federal Communications Commission in order to close. It was proposed more than a year ago and was expected to close a few months later, but has instead faced a protracted delay.
Tegna stock stopped trading in February as a resolution of the merger review appeared to be close at hand. The FCC then said it planned to refer the merger review to an administrative law judge, a move that is tantamount to killing the deal. (The risk of higher consumer prices and staff layoffs have been cited by commission as primary concerns.) The NAB filed a friend-of-the-court brief (read it HERE) in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, siding with Tegna and Standard General and objecting to the FCC’s plan to send the deal review to what it called “regulatory purgatory.” The FCC, which customarily has five members appointed by the U.S.
Read more on deadline.com
