Nexstar Broadcasting's been on something of a buying spree lately. In 2011, the company bought three stations (including WEHT Local), and just last month announced the purchase of 12 stations from Newport Television. That deal is expected to close by year's end, bringing to 67 the number of stations Nexstar owns, manages or programs.
To paraphrase Kenny Rogers, though, the dealin' may not be done for Perry Sook and his team. In a conference call with analysts yesterday discussing the company's second quarter earnings, Sook said they're still looking at new potential members to add to the Nexstar fold. “I think that we will continue to look at acquisitions opportunistically, if we can find acquisitions that are free cash flow accretive to the company and leverage neutral or nominally leverage-changing,” he explained.
But that's not the surprise of the call. That came when Sook said that the company might actually part with some of its smaller stations. “[W]e are engaged in discussions to sell some of our smaller, non-strategic assets and believe that can be done at accretive multiples to the company as well,” he told the analysts.
Sook didn't specify which stations that Nexstar is giving thought to parting with, but most of the company's holdings are in smaller markets. The company currently operates in just 10 markets ranked higher than #100 (with 15 stations); the remainder of its stations are in markets #101 and lower (including Evansville, which is #104 and Terre Haute, which is #154).
This bears watching, so stay tuned ...
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