Meredith to Bow Out of Media General Merger

Meredith (MDP) is planning to walk away from its merger with Media General, which paves the way for Nexstar Broadcasting Group to acquire Media General, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Meredith will likely receive $60 million in cash as part of a breakup fee and the right to buy some divested channels from Nexstar and Media General, which are proposing to combine to create the second-largest U.S. broadcaster, the source added, asking to not be named because the move had not yet been announced.

Meredith may announce the news on Wednesday when it reports quarterly earnings, according to the source.

Meredith and Media General declined to comment. Nexstar could not immediately be reached for comment.

Media General had negotiated a deal to be bought by Nexstar but needed to first get out of its merger agreement to buy New York-based Meredith for $2.34 billion before it could be acquired.

Before Tuesday, Meredith had been sticking by its deal to be acquired by Media General and was ready to take its merger in front of Media Generals shareholders, which had posed a hurdle to Nexstar and Media General’s tie-up.

Nexstar shares were trading 2.64% higher at $48.62 while Media General shares rose 2.9% at $16.04 and Meredith shares rose 1.86% to $37.87.

Bloomberg first reported the news on Tuesday.