Three months after cutting a deal to buy Liberty Corp.’s 15 TV stations, Raycom Media now plans to sell off 12 of its own network affiliates. The privately-held company says it is parsing off select outlets to focus on its holdings in the Midwest and Southeast.
“The sale of these properties, which either duplicate existing market holdings or lie outside our core geographies, will allow us to strategically reshape our holdings and provide the resources to reinvest in expanding our reach within priority markets,” Raycom CEO Paul McTear said in a statement.
Raycom projects the sales could fetch up to $600 million and is working with Belmoro Corporate Advisors and Wachovia Securities. The company has not reached any deals yet, but says it has received considerable interest from several suitors.
The stations to be sold, Raycom says, are: WFXL, Albany, Ga.; KASA, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, N.M.; KXRM/KXTU – Colorado Springs, Colo.; WACH – Columbia, S.C.; KTVO – Ottumwa, Iowa/Kirksville, Mo.; WLUC – Marquette, Mich.; WSTM/WSTQ – Syracuse, N.Y.; WNWO – Toledo, Ohio; WPBN/WTOM – Traverse City/Cadillac, Mich.; KWWL – Waterloo/Cedar Rapids/Iowa City/Dubuque, Iowa.
Upon closing the Liberty deal, Raycom says it will also put two Liberty stations on the block, KGBT H Harlingen/McAllen/Brownsville, Texas and WWAY-TV, Wilmington, N.C.
