Tribune withdraws plans for $3.9 billion merger with Sinclair
Tribune Media said Thursday that it would scrap its $3.9 billion merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group and sue Sinclair for "breach of contract," Fox Business reports. Tribune says Sinclair promised to make a reasonable attempt to get prompt regulatory approval, but conducted unnecessarily aggressive and slow negotiations with the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission.
The deal began to unravel last month when the FCC raised "serious concerns" about the merger, which would have created a company reaching up to 70 million households. Sinclair had said the merger would be "transformational." Tribune CEO Peter Kern said in a statement that the FCC referred "the issue of Sinclair's conduct" for a special hearing, creating unacceptable "uncertainty and delay," The Washington Post reports.
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