Raycom Media sold for $3.6 billion

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Raycom Media Inc., the parent company of WIS-TV in Columbia, has been purchased by Gray Television for $3.6 billion.

“Combining our company with Raycom will create a powerhouse local media operation,” Hilton H. Howell Jr., chairman and CEO of Gray Television, said in a news release. “We are excited to welcome the reporters, account executives and technologists of Raycom to our corporate family.”

The merger makes Gray Television the third-largest portfolio of stations and markets in the country with 142 television stations in 92 markets reaching 24% of U.S. television markets.

In addition to television stations, Gray will also acquire:

• Raycom Sports (a marketing, production and events management and distribution company)
• Tupelo Raycom (a sports and entertainment production company)
• RTM Productions (an automotive programming production and marketing solutions company)
• Broadview Media (a post-production and digital signage company)

Pat LaPlatney, Raycom president and CEO, will become Gray’s president and co-CEO. LaPlatney and Paul McTear, Raycom’s former president and CEO, will join Gray’s board of directors.

“We are thrilled to be joining Gray Television,” LaPlatney said. “We will be a stronger, more impactful force for our audiences, advertisers and communities.”

Raycom announced it will sell Community Newspaper Holdings and PureCars. Gray will not acquire either of these properties as part of the merger.

Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. owns more than 100 community newspapers and information products in 23 states. PureCars is a digital ad platform for the automotive industry.

The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018, is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.