’s statement is the company’s first acknowledgement that it has received four unsolicited acquisition offers in recent weeks. Two of those have since been withdrawn while the other two have yet to progress in the due diligence process, nor have the bidders advised Tegna leaders on financing specifics, according to Tegna.
In addition to Gray and Apollo, entrepreneur Byron Allen is said to have fielded an all-cash offer along with religious broadcast group Trinity in partnership with Phoenix-based private equity firm Najafi Companies. Najafi and Trinity on March 17 announced they had notified Tegna’s board of directors of its intent to make an all-cash offer at $20 a share.
“As has been widely reported, Tegna has received four unsolicited acquisition proposals in recent weeks,” Tegna said in a statement. “Tegna and its advisors engaged substantially with two of these parties and provided them extensive non-public due diligence information. These two parties made their proposals shortly before the recent market dislocation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and both subsequently informed Tegna that they were ceasing discussions.