LIN TV shares jump on sale talk
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 19, 2007
[SIZE=-1]Journal staff and wire reports[/SIZE]
Providence-based LIN TV Corp., owner of WPRI Channel 12 and operator of WNAC Channel 64, said yesterday it hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to evaluate options, including the possible sale of the company.
LIN’s shares (TVL:NYSE) leaped 13 percent to close at a new 52-week high of $18.88 a share, up $2.17. Trading volume was huge with 1.67 million shares changing hands, more than six times the average daily volume.
LIN’s disclosure came as buyouts in U.S. media accelerate. Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation’s largest radio broadcaster and owner of Rhode Island stations WHJJ-AM, WHJY-FM, WSNE-FM and WWBB-FM, all in Providence, agreed yesterday to a $19.5-billion takeover by private equity buyers Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital LLC.
Courtney Guertin, a spokeswoman for LIN, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment. The company said, in a statement, that no decision has been made to sell the company and added, “the company emphasizes that it is unable to predict if this review of strategic alternatives will result in any transaction.”
LIN owns 29 television stations in 17 markets, including three low-power outlets. It owns at least two stations in nine of the markets where it operates.
The company, with a market value of $1.01 billion, could fetch as much as $20 to $23 a share based on sales of other broadcast operations, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Kit Spring wrote in a note to investors, citing San Antonio-based Clear Channel’s April 20 agreement to sell 56 television stations to Providence-based Providence Equity Partners Inc. for $1.2 billion.
LIN posted first-quarter net income of $20.7 million, or 42 cents a share, after selling its Puerto Rican operations and reporting a gain of $23.1 million from the sale. The company owned three stations there, including a full-power independent outlet and WJPX-TV, called MTV Puerto Rico.
The company had a net loss of $4.32 million, or 9 cents, in the same period a year earlier.
Net revenues for the three months ended March 31 increased 3 percent to $93.1 million, compared with $90.5 million for the same period last year. Growth in local advertising markets and station shares, higher digital revenues and the acquisition of KASA-TV, the FOX affiliate in Albuquerque, offset decreases in national and political advertising for the quarter.
The national decline was due in large part to Olympics spending by automotive advertisers in the first quarter of last year that did not recur in the first quarter of this year. Digital revenues, which include Internet-only and retransmission consent fees, were $2.5 million for the first quarter of this year, representing an increase of 55 percent versus the first quarter last year.
Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31 decreased 3 percent to $78.0 million, compared with $80.3 million for the same period last year, despite the acquisition and increased costs for KASA-TV. Operating income for the quarter was $15.1 million compared with $10.3 million for the same period last year.
The Clear Channel Communications board of directors accepted an offer with a slightly higher price and a rare opportunity for shareholders to continue owning a stake in the radio and billboard company even after it goes private.
The board and the buyer’s group have faced stiff resistance from several large shareholders who didn’t think earlier offers were enough.
The new offer of $39.20 per share was initially rejected by the board two weeks ago. The board approved the deal once the private equity partners agreed to allow shareholders to own shares in the new company with the same benefits as the equity firms.
The buyer’s group is also assuming $8 billion in debt.
Source: the projo.com
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 19, 2007
[SIZE=-1]Journal staff and wire reports[/SIZE]
Providence-based LIN TV Corp., owner of WPRI Channel 12 and operator of WNAC Channel 64, said yesterday it hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to evaluate options, including the possible sale of the company.
LIN’s shares (TVL:NYSE) leaped 13 percent to close at a new 52-week high of $18.88 a share, up $2.17. Trading volume was huge with 1.67 million shares changing hands, more than six times the average daily volume.
LIN’s disclosure came as buyouts in U.S. media accelerate. Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation’s largest radio broadcaster and owner of Rhode Island stations WHJJ-AM, WHJY-FM, WSNE-FM and WWBB-FM, all in Providence, agreed yesterday to a $19.5-billion takeover by private equity buyers Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital LLC.
Courtney Guertin, a spokeswoman for LIN, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment. The company said, in a statement, that no decision has been made to sell the company and added, “the company emphasizes that it is unable to predict if this review of strategic alternatives will result in any transaction.”
LIN owns 29 television stations in 17 markets, including three low-power outlets. It owns at least two stations in nine of the markets where it operates.
The company, with a market value of $1.01 billion, could fetch as much as $20 to $23 a share based on sales of other broadcast operations, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Kit Spring wrote in a note to investors, citing San Antonio-based Clear Channel’s April 20 agreement to sell 56 television stations to Providence-based Providence Equity Partners Inc. for $1.2 billion.
LIN posted first-quarter net income of $20.7 million, or 42 cents a share, after selling its Puerto Rican operations and reporting a gain of $23.1 million from the sale. The company owned three stations there, including a full-power independent outlet and WJPX-TV, called MTV Puerto Rico.
The company had a net loss of $4.32 million, or 9 cents, in the same period a year earlier.
Net revenues for the three months ended March 31 increased 3 percent to $93.1 million, compared with $90.5 million for the same period last year. Growth in local advertising markets and station shares, higher digital revenues and the acquisition of KASA-TV, the FOX affiliate in Albuquerque, offset decreases in national and political advertising for the quarter.
The national decline was due in large part to Olympics spending by automotive advertisers in the first quarter of last year that did not recur in the first quarter of this year. Digital revenues, which include Internet-only and retransmission consent fees, were $2.5 million for the first quarter of this year, representing an increase of 55 percent versus the first quarter last year.
Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31 decreased 3 percent to $78.0 million, compared with $80.3 million for the same period last year, despite the acquisition and increased costs for KASA-TV. Operating income for the quarter was $15.1 million compared with $10.3 million for the same period last year.
The Clear Channel Communications board of directors accepted an offer with a slightly higher price and a rare opportunity for shareholders to continue owning a stake in the radio and billboard company even after it goes private.
The board and the buyer’s group have faced stiff resistance from several large shareholders who didn’t think earlier offers were enough.
The new offer of $39.20 per share was initially rejected by the board two weeks ago. The board approved the deal once the private equity partners agreed to allow shareholders to own shares in the new company with the same benefits as the equity firms.
The buyer’s group is also assuming $8 billion in debt.
Source: the projo.com
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