• by Wayne Friedman , September 22, 2021

Two groups -- Apollo Global Management/Standard General and a group led by Byron Allen -- are reportedly bidding on Virginia-based TV station company Tegna Inc.

A release sent out by the company early Tuesday morning would only say: “Tegna today confirmed the company has recently received acquisition proposals. Consistent with its fiduciary duty to Tegna shareholders, the Board will carefully review and evaluate these proposals.”

Reports say Allen, who is chairman-CEO of Allen Media Group, is teaming with Ares Management in a bid for Tegna, the TV/radio group of the Gannett Company that was spun off as an independent publicly traded company in 2015.

Bloomberg reported that the Allen-Ares bid was $23 per share -- higher than Apollo’s $22 per share all-cash bid. Tegna stock closed up 11% to $21.62 on Tuesday

In February 2019, Apollo Global Management, an investment company, bought a majority interest in Cox Media Group, owner of 14 TV stations for $3 billion.

Standard General is a New York-based investment firm/hedge fund.

Tegna operates 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, reaching 39% of all TV households nationwide. Tegna also owns the OTT/CTV advertising inventory selling unit Premion, as well as radio stations and three locally-based digital TV networks.

Tegna said the company was approached in a possible buyout deal a year ago. But due to concerns around COVID-19, the offers faded.

The Allen Media Group is the parent of Entertainment Studios. The company distributes syndicated TV shows, owns TV stations and a TV production company, as well as Local Now, an OTT internet TV service, and The Weather Channel.