Tegna Sets $325M Accelerated Share Repurchase

Tegna Inc.  today announced that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank.

Under the terms of the ASR, Tegna will repurchase $325 million in Tegna common shares from JPMorgan, with an initial delivery of approximately 17.3 million shares on Nov. 13. The final number of shares to be repurchased will be based on the average daily volume-weighted average price of Tegna shares during the term of the ASR, less a discount and subject to customary adjustments pursuant to the terms of the ASR.

The final settlement of the ASR is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2024, subject to acceleration at JPMorgan’s discretion.

Tegna completed its initial $300 million ASR program on Aug. 31, earlier than anticipated. Following the completion of the initial ASR and before entering Tegna’s third quarter blackout period on Sept. 16, the company “opportunistically repurchased an incremental $28 million of shares taking advantage of attractive market pricing.” The repurchases were made under Tegna’s existing share repurchase program approved by the board of directors in December 2020.

The initial $300 million ASR program reduced the company’s outstanding shares by approximately 18 million, including final settlement of approximately 3 million shares.

Since the termination of the merger agreement, Tegna has committed this year to nearly $800 million in share repurchases with approximately 45 million-50 million shares that will be retired by end of March 2024, which is more than 20% of shares outstanding prior to these actions. As of Sept. 30, Tegna had retired a total of 28.7 million shares, the company said.