TV station group stocks rose sharply Friday after Media General said it had agreed to acquire LIN Media in a deal valued at $1.6 billion.
The deal works out to $27.82 per share for LIN, a 28% premium to its trailing 20-day volume weighted average price on March 19 and one that was quickly eroded during an active trading day. LIN stock rose as high as $28.28 per share (up 32%) in early trading Friday, before closing at $26.31 per share, up 22.4%. Media General shares also went on a roller coaster – rising as much as 14% earlier Friday before closing at $17.61, up 1.6%.
News of the deal also boosted the broadcast sector, which had declined sharply in recent days as news broke of Federal Communications Commission moves to curb cooperative negotiations between stations in retransmission consent deals.
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