Nexstar's $3.5B Power Grab: The Local TV Takeover That Could Rewrite Broadcast History

After years of industry head-fakes, Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) is finally pulling the triggeracquiring Tegna for $3.5 billion in cash, or $22 a share. That's a 44% premium from where Tegna was trading in early August, when whispers of the deal first surfaced. The all-in transaction value comes to $6.2 billion when debt and fees are stacked in, making this one of the largest broadcast rollups in recent memory. If it closes, Nexstar could control stations reaching 80% of U.S. homesa scale that would've been unthinkable under prior FCC rules. But in July, a key appeals court nuked the long-standing top four ownership cap, opening the floodgates for moves just like this.

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Tegna's stock jumped as much as 4.8% to $21.14 after the announcementjust shy of the deal price, signaling market confidence in the close. The deal marks a comeback bid for Tegna, whose earlier $5.4 billion sale to Standard General imploded under regulatory pressure. Now the question shifts to whether this administration is willing to greenlight a megamerger that effectively consolidates swaths of the U.S. broadcast landscape. Nexstar says it already has financing lined up from multiple banks and expects to close the deal in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Behind the scenes, Sinclair had also reportedly courted Tegna. But in a dramatic reversal of roles, Nexstaronce the seller of 11 stations to Tegna in 2019 for $740 millionis now the heavyweight. Its market cap now towers at 6x Sinclair's. The strategic logic? Scale buys time. As audiences shrink and ad dollars chase TikTok and YouTube, owning more local stationsand the retransmission fees that come with themcould help Nexstar weather the storm.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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