Sinclair explores sale of 30% of radio stations | Wilnesh News

sinclairOne of the largest owners of radio stations in the United States is seeking to sell more than 30% of its business, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company has hired moellis The company, its investment banker, has identified more than 60 television stations across the United States that are willing to sell, people familiar with the matter said. Sinclair owns or operates 185 television stations in 86 markets.

The stations are made up of affiliates such as Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and The CW. If sold together, their average revenue in 2023 and 2024 is estimated at $1.56 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Sinclair is willing to sell all or part of its stations, which are located in top markets such as Minneapolis; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas; and Fresno, Calif., among others.

Sinclair Chief Executive Chris Ripley said on Wednesday the company was open to selling part of the business, but did not provide specifics.

“As we’ve said all along, we hold nothing sacred,” Ripley said on the company’s earnings call. “We want to unlock the sum of the parts valuations that we believe are significantly undervalued. If an asset sale makes sense to unlock that value and help us deleverage, then that’s something we’ll be open to doing as well.”

The company began formally purchasing the products in February, a person familiar with the matter said.

Spokespeople for Sinclair and Morris declined to comment.

Sinclair is also exploring options for its Tennis Channel, a cable network that features sports and pickleball tournaments, people familiar with the matter said. Burundi The development was reported earlier.

Broadcast station groups have suffered over the past five years as millions of Americans canceled traditional pay TV. Most stations make money through so-called retransmission fees, which are paid at a per-subscriber rate by traditional TV distributors such as Comcast, DirecTV and Charter for the rights to broadcast.

Sinclair’s market value has shrunk by more than 70% in the past five years. The company has a market capitalization of approximately US$975 million and an enterprise value of approximately US$4.7 billion.

Last year, Sinclair rebranded and restructured, splitting the company into two operating units: Local Media, which focuses on television stations, and Venture Capital, which owns the Tennis Channel but also serves as an investment vehicle.

Some people familiar with the matter said the division of the corporate unit and the recent process of selling some of its stations stemmed from tensions within the Smith family, the shareholders who helped found Sinclair and the board of directors.

The stations will be sold in the months leading up to the 2024 election, which typically generates high political advertising revenue for broadcasters. Sinclair said in an earnings call Wednesday that it had booked $77 million in political ads in the second half of the year through Election Day, compared with the same time in 2020 when former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden once) booked $21 million in political advertising.

The company’s overall revenue and advertising revenue both increased slightly in the first quarter. Sinclair’s shares rose 12% on Thursday.

Sinclair’s radio station is known for its conservative editorial voice, and the company faced backlash in 2018 Ask some of its TV stations to read promotional videos criticizing the media for “false stories”.

Sinclair acquired the largest regional sports network portfolio from Disney in 2019 for $10.6 billion, which included $8.8 billion in debt.Amid dwindling cord-cutting and a heavy debt load, Sinclair’s independently-operated, unconsolidated subsidiary Diamond Sports seeks acquisitions It went bankrupt last year.