Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) shares dipped slightly Friday, on word one of the largest owners of broadcast stations in the U.S. is reportedly looking to sell more than 30% of its footprint.
The company has hired Moelis as its investment banker and has identified more than 60 stations in various regions of the U.S. that it would be willing to sell, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Sinclair owns or operates 185 TV stations in 86 markets.
The stations are a mix of affiliates including Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and the CW. If sold together, their average revenue for 2023 and 2024 is an estimated $1.56 billion, the people said. Sinclair is willing to sell all or some of the stations, which are in top markets like Minneapolis; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas and Fresno, Calif., among others.
Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said Wednesday that the company is open to offloading parts of its business, without providing specifics.
“As we’ve always stated, we have no sacred cows,” Ripley said during his company’s earnings conference call. “We want to unlock the sum of the parts valuation that we think we’re grossly undervalued for. And to the extent that asset sales makes sense in order to unlock that value and help us de-lever, then that’s something that we’d be open to as well.”
The company began officially shopping them in February, one of the people said.
SBGI shares let go of six cents to $16.20.
