Update: On Monday, Gannett announced the official completion of its $2.2 billion purchase of Belo, which includes $13.75 per share in cash and assumption of $715 million in outstanding debt.
The sale of KMOV is a condition of Gannett’s purchase of Belo Corp. approved by the Federal Communications Commission and announced Friday. The KMOV transaction “will satisfy Gannett’s and Sander Media’s obligations under the previously announced proposed consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with Gannett’s acquisition of Belo,” the company said.
In the deal, Sander Media will acquire KMOV once the Gannett-Belo sale closes. Sander will then sell the station to Meredith. For its part, Meredith will transfer KASW-TV to SagamoreHill of Phoenix, an LLC, that owns two stations in two markets.
The sale of the three stations is contingent on approval by regulatory agencies, Gannett stated:
Gannett will continue to operate KSDK-TV in St. Louis and KPNX-TV in Phoenix markets.
