The Federal Trade Commission has given a clean bill of
antitrust health to Tribune's planned purchase of Local TV Holdings.
The FTC on Monday released the list of merger's whose antitrust reviews had been terminated early and
Tribune's $2.725 billion deal to buy Local's 19 TV stations was on it. That means neither the FTC, nor Justice, which divvy up the antitrust review, planned to take any
action to block or condition the deal.
An antitrust
review by either the FTC or Justice--in this case most likely Justice--is triggered by mergers valued at at least
$70.9 million. If there are no antitrust issues, an early termination of the
review is granted.
Earlier this month, Tribuneannounced it had struck a $2.725 billion deal to buy Local's 19 stations,
which it expected to close by the end of the year subject to regulatory
approvals.
The deal still needs to pass muster with the
FCC, which reviews mergers for public interest as well as concentration issues.
To
come into compliance with FCC newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership limits in
Local TV Holdings markets where Tribune owns some newspapers, Local TV has
filed applications to sell stations in Scranton, Pa., and Norfolk, Va., to
Dreamcatcher Broadcasting, according to FCC documents.
