- E.W. Scripps (SSP +2.9%) is acquiring 15 TV stations, across 10 markets, from Cordillera Communications.
- It's paying $521M for the block and says the purchase is immediately accretive to margins both for its Local Media segment and for the overall company.
- The move will expand its local TV footprint to 51 stations overall in 36 markets.
- Reach will expand to nearly 21% of U.S. TV households, and all but one of the acquired stations are No. 1 in their markets, adding ratings power. And it adds more NBC and CBS affiliates to a roster already strong with ABC affiliates.
- Based on Cordillera's actual and estimated revenues and adjusting for synergies, the purchase price multiple is 7.2x net of tax benefits, Scripps says.
- Meanwhile, Scripps also says it expects $130M in political ad revenue from this year's midterm elections, a 73% jump over 2014's midterms, due to "tightly contested races" in a number of its local media markets.