Meredith to sell local TV stations to Gray Television

Meredith Corp. is selling its Local Media Group to Gray Television for $2.7 billion, reports the Hollywood Reporter.

Its local TV business includes 18 TV stations across 13 states, including the CBS affiliates in Atlanta, St. Louis and Phoenix and Fox affiliates in Las Vegas and Portland, Oregon.

“We believe the scale made possible by the combination of the Local Media Group with Gray Television represents a great strategic fit, and we are incredibly grateful to our colleagues for their years of dedicated service and industry-leading work,” Meredith chairman and CEO Tom Harty said.

With this deal, Meredith will be able to focus solely on its National Media Group.

“We expect the transaction to unlock meaningful shareholder value as it advances all of the company’s financial priorities: reducing net debt, improving financial flexibility, allocating capital to fast-growing digital and consumer opportunities, and providing returns to shareholders,” Harty added.

The company further added that the deal would pay down debt held by Meredith as it “sharpens strategic focus on growth opportunities.” There are further plans to spin off the company as a standalone publicly traded company, to operate under digital and magazine divisions.