Hearst Corporation has abandoned its bid to buy out other shareholders of Hearst-Argyle Television for around 600 million bucks. The tender offer to buy out the public shareholders for 23.50 per share expired on Friday and Hearst Corporation then announced that its buyout bid was over and that all tendered shares would be returned to the shareholders. It did not announce how many shares had actually been tendered. The move was a bit of a surprise, since Hearst Corporation had stated in an SEC filing just a few days earlier that it planned to extend the tender offer (10/9/07 RBR #197). The independent directors of Hearst-Argyle had declared the offer inadequate and the stock had traded above the tender price since the buyout bid was announced.
RBR observation: Whether or not the buyout takes place has little impact on the only two radio stations managed by Hearst-Argyle – WBAL-AM & WIYY-FM Baltimore. They are already owned by Hearst Corporation and managed under LMAs by Hearst-Argyle.
