(Reuters) - Tribune Media Co (TRCO.N) terminated its $3.9 billion deal to be acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI.O) and filed suit, the company said on Thursday, after regulators objected to the acquisition that had received support from U.S. President Donald Trump.
FILE PHOTO: The tower of Tribune Broadcasting Los Angeles affiliate KTLA 5 is seen in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 17, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
Tribune filed a lawsuit against Sinclair, the largest U.S. broadcast station owner, alleging material breach of contract 15 months after the merger was first announced.
“To maintain control over stations it was obligated to sell, Sinclair engaged in unnecessarily aggressive and protracted negotiations with the Department of Justice and the FCC over regulatory requirements,” Tribune said.
“Sinclair’s entire course of conduct has been in blatant violation of the merger agreement and, but for Sinclair’s actions, the transaction could have closed long ago,” the company said.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said in July that Sinclair “did not fully disclose” facts about the merger, raising questions about whether the company “attempted to skirt the commission’s broadcast ownership rules.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been vocal in his opposition to the deal, a stance that was criticized by Trump.
“So sad and unfair that the FCC wouldn’t approve the Sinclair Broadcast merger with Tribune. This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People,” Trump said in a Twitter post in July.
Advocacy group Free Press said in an FCC filing in August 2017 that Sinclair forces its stations to “air pro-Trump propaganda and then seeks favors from the Trump administration.”
Pai told Congress after Trump’s tweet that he stood by his decision to refer the
