The Last Gasp by Standard General to Aquire Tegna *

Standard General and Tegna are fighting to save their proposed merger, which has been under review by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its Media Bureau for an unprecedentedly lengthy amount of time. The deal has been in review for over a year, twice as long as the FCC's guidelines. In February, the Media Bureau designated that the deal be sent for a hearing by an administrative law judge, a process likely to take many more months.

Standard General and Tegna have filed their reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to force the FCC to rule on their proposed merger before financing expires on May 22. They believe that if the FCC does not rule by April 28, the deal will effectively be killed.

Opponents of the merger, including The NewsGuild-CWA, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA, Common Cause, and the United Church of Christ, OC Inc., have filed their briefs in the case. Standard General and Tegna have an opportunity to reply before the case is decided.

Standard General maintains that the FCC's decision to designate the deal for a hearing by an administrative law judge was improper and doomed the deal before a vote by the FCC. They argue that the transaction has been put under unprecedented scrutiny, and not once during its nearly year-long review did the Media Bureau raise concerns with the transaction — much less discuss with the transaction parties how such concerns might be addressed.

Soo Kim, founding partner of Standard General, has said that the FCC has shown that it is content to let the Media Bureau destroy this deal, a course that prevents significant gains for diversity and labor while needlessly depriving the public of the transaction's innumerable benefits. He urges the court to compel the FCC to follow its own procedural norms by putting the deal to a vote.

This case is an important reminder that mergers and acquisitions are subject to regulatory approval and can face lengthy reviews, particularly in industries like media where consolidation is heavily scrutinized. Companies need to be prepared to navigate these reviews and work with regulatory agencies to address any concerns that may arise.