IRVING, Texas—Nexstar has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a pair of Fox affiliate stations in Charlotte, N.C., a deal that was first reported last November. As part of the deal, Nexstar also announced that it divested two stations in Seattle and another in Milwaukee.
The Charlotte stations, Fox affiliate WJZY and MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYT, were acquired by Nexstar for $45 million each. Meanwhile, Seattle’s Fox affiliate KCPQ and MyNetwork affiliate KZJO, as well as Milwaukee’s Fox affiliate WITI were divested for $350 million. This gave Nexstar $240 million in net revenue from the deal, which it says it will use to reduce borrowings under its credit facilities and for general corporate purposes.
“Since completing the Tribune Media transaction we’ve evaluated opportunities to optimize our portfolio with the goals of positioning us in markets that are complementary to existing operations or markets where we believe we can generate greater upside and potentially freeing up some national cap ownership space,” said Perry Sook, president, CEO and group chairman for Nexstar Media.
According to Sook, these recent transactions reduced Nexstar’s household reach by 0.7%, which will allow them to pursue other transactions “that strengthen our local market platform and service to viewers and businesses.”
