Nexstar set to buy Tribune for $4 billion

Nexstar Media Group Inc. agreed to buy Tribune Media Co. for $4.1 billion, creating the largest owner of local-TV stations in the United States, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Nexstar outbid private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC with an all-cash offer that values Tribune at about $46.50 a share, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the purchase isn’t yet public.

The deal would create a new king of local TV, unseating Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., the parent company of Little Rock’s KATV. Four months ago, Sinclair was forced to abandon its own takeover attempt for Tribune after the $3.9 billion transaction drew the ire of regulators. Nexstar had been interested in Tribune last year before Sinclair had agreed to buy it.

Tribune is now set to fetch a higher price from Nexstar — and a 15 percent premium over its closing price of $40.26 at the end of last week.

This marks the second major deal among broadcast-station owners in 2018. In June, Gray Television Inc. agreed to buy Raycom Media Inc., owner of Jonesboro’s KAIT, for $3.65 billion.

Nexstar, based in Irving, Texas, has about 175 TV stations, including Little Rock’s KARK and Fort Smith’s KFTA. Its NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox affiliates reach about 40 percent of U.S. households. Chicago-based Tribune owns or operates more than 40 stations, including Fort Smith’s KFSM as well as the national network WGN America.