Nexstar to Appeal Preliminary Injunction Blocking Tegna Deal

In response to a preliminary injunction prohibiting Nexstar from carrying out its $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, Nexstar has announced that it will appeal the ruling by a federal judge to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling could delay the merger for at least some weeks, if not months, until the Ninth Circuit rules and have a chilling impact on dealmaking in the broadcast station sector, which has been embarking on another wave of consolidation.

As previously reported, a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the merger between Nexstar and Tegna was issued in late March by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley in California in the U.S. District Court Eastern District Of California.

He is presiding over an anti-trust case brought by DirecTV and eight state Attorneys General seeking to block the deal, which has been approved by the Department of Justice and the Federal communications Commission.

Last week Nunley extended the TRO by one week and on April 18 issued a preliminary injunction that will take effect on April 21.

Nexstar responded by saying “This transaction closed more than four weeks ago following receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Nexstar Media Group now owns TEGNA and has taken steps consistent with the Court order that has been in effect…This pro competitive transaction will make local stations stronger and support continued investment in local journalism and fact-based news. We will appeal today’s decision and look forward to presenting our case on its merits before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is one of eight AGs involved in the case said "my office and attorneys general nationwide have secured a preliminary injunction in our lawsuit opposing the illegal and U.S. DOJ-approved merger of Nexstar/Tegna — an order that demands the broadcasting titans stop merging while our case proceeds. This is a critical win in our case,” “This merger is illegal, plain and simple. The federal government may have thrown in the towel, but we’ll keep fighting for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news.”

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez applauded the ruling and criticized the regulator's hurried approval process.

“This is an important step toward ensuring that decisions of this magnitude are made with consumers in mind, not billion-dollar companies cutting backroom deals out of public view,” she posted on X. “I welcome the court’s decision to pause this transaction and bring much-needed scrutiny to a deeply flawed approval process."

It isn't immediately clear how long an appeal might take. If that appeal fails the ruling could delay implementation of the merger until 2027 when a jury trial would be held.

While the litigation continues, some analysts have argued that the ruling could "ice" broadcast M&A.

The court ruling is available here.