Hearst Moves On Merger

Hearst has informed Hearst-Argyle Television that it will purchase all of the shares "validly tendered" following its tender offer for the broadcaster's Series A shares, which expired at 5 p.m. yesterday.

According to a statement, Hearst has advised Hearst-Argyle that as of the expiration, a total of approximately 13,763,289 shares of Hearst-Argyle Series A Common Stock had been tendered. Coupled with the shares already owned by Hearst, it will hold approximately 96% of the 94,254,329 outstanding shares of Hearst-Argyle common stock.
Hearst had initially offered $4 a share in March, and upped it to $4.50 in April. In the summer of 2007, Hearst had made an offer of $23.50 a share. Multiple insiders on the deal said this week they'd be shocked if Hearst didn't succeed in its bid.

Hearst has advised Hearst-Argyle that after it completes its purchase, it will move ahead on a merger in which Hearst-Argyle will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hearst and change its name to Hearst Television Inc. In the merger, all shares held by the remaining public shareholders of Hearst-Argyle will be cancelled and, subject to the shareholders' rights to exercise statutory appraisal rights, converted into the right to receive $4.50 per share in cash, without interest.

Hearst plans to complete the merger within the next several business days, it says, at which point Hearst-Argyle's shares will no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.