2 months ago
Nexstar weighed successful for nan first clip connected a judge’s bid that halted its merger pinch Tegna, informing nan tribunal that it will person trouble afloat complying because definite aspects of nan closed transaction “cannot beryllium reversed.”
U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley granted a impermanent restraining bid to DirecTV connected Friday, ruling that it was apt to win connected nan merits of its antitrust claims against nan merger. The judge put a 14-day frost connected nan merger and group a proceeding for April 7 to see a preliminary injunction.
In a filing connected Tuesday, Nexstar’s ineligible squad wrote that nan restraining bid “creates contiguous operational harm to Tegna and Nexstar, regulatory conflicts, and a governance vacuum.”
They wrote, “Upon closing, Nexstar and Tegna took galore emblematic steps that whitethorn not person been
apparent to nan Court erstwhile it issued its TRO. It is peculiarly difficult to frost integration that
was already taking place, dissimilar a accepted hold-separate order. Complying pinch certain
aspects of nan TRO is intolerable and could jeopardize Nexstar and nan Tegna assets nan Court
seeks to preserve.”
Read Nexstar’s filing responding to judge’s order.
The merger will create a broadcast elephantine pinch 259 stations reaching astir 80% of nan country.
DirecTV revenge an antitrust suit to artifact nan merger connected March 18. The adjacent day, nan FCC gave nan greenlight to nan transaction, and nan Justice Department did not activity to situation it. Shortly aft that, Nexstar announced that it had closed nan deal.
In their filing, Nexstar cited ongoing “debt statement reporting obligations that require nan inclusion of Tegna’s financial accusation into Nexstar’s reports from nan day of closing,” informing that they different would beryllium successful breach of securities laws and Securities and Exchange Commission rules.
Nexstar besides noted that, pinch nan woody closed, they look nan operational disorder of carrying retired statement obligations, arsenic Tegna’s retransmission consent agreements are now governed by Nexstar’s position “to which nary erstwhile Tegna unit are privy.” Nexstar besides cited disorder pinch distribution agreements group to expire successful nan adjacent half year, arsenic good arsenic their commitments to nan FCC to grow news contented of nan Tegna stations. They pointed to plans to supply those stations entree to Nexstar’s D.C. bureau to create programming up of nan midterm elections.
As portion of their filing, Nexstar projected that nan mixed institution beryllium allowed to work its indebtedness obligations, “as good arsenic completion of nan required post- closing information perfection process and avoidance of default nether Nexstar’s indebtedness instruments.”
Among different things, Nexstar besides asked nan judge to let it to “take reasonable actions” to support Tegna’s day-to-day operations, and to let nan continued management of existing retransmission consent agreements. The institution besides wants Nexstar to beryllium allowed to name Tegna officers to support nan entity going. Those would see “setting thresholds for statement approval, expenditure authorization, and different financial limits.”
Nexstar besides warned that “additional proposals and clarifications whitethorn beryllium required successful nan coming days to forestall further worldly harm associated pinch nan TRO.”
DirecTV said that Nexstar’s filing “raises galore issues for nan first time.” DirecTV said that it plans to record a consequence connected Thursday.
