.Discussing the impact of a troubled “notable transaction” on in-market deal-making, Tegna President-CEO Dave Lougee said in its 2Q earnings call with analysts Tuesday: “The opportunity remains the same. The starting line has been pushed back — it’s kind of like a baseball game rain delay.”
Without ever mentioning Sinclair, Lougee said that problems associated with “a large transaction in our industry” are specific to that transaction and “are irrelevant to Tegna’s potential M&A opportunities.”
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Adding that the dismissal of a challenge to the FCC’s UHF discount was a positive for the industry, Lougee said: “Incremental regulatory clarity along with the fact that additional assets have and are likely to come to market should make the environment more conducive to vertical acquisitions.” He said Tegna is ready to look at any and all types of transactions.
In fact, in answer to a question as to whether Tegna was looking at large, mid or small markets, Lougee simply said: “Yes.” Mentioning Tegna’s acquisition of the small-market London group, he said: “We don’t foreclose small markets if we see some unique opportunities with perhaps synergies because they’re right next to one of our Big Four markets in the state … there’s a lot of different criteria we would look at.”
However, there are a number of factors inhibiting the M&A market right now, Lougee said. He suggested that Mom and Pop television owners thinking of selling may be waiting to collect their 2018 political windfall before putting their assets on the market.
More importantly, however, is the need for the dust to settle around the currently under-review major transaction and, generally, the achievement of regulatory clarity on ownership cap levels and market definitions.
