Telemundo to buy Serestar stations in Sacramento and Salt Lake City for $21M

The Telemundo Station Group will get bigger in 2019, if the FCC approves its applications to acquire Serestar Communication’s Sacramento and Salt Lake City stations.

Both companies filed joint applications with the FCC.

According to the asset purchase agreement filed with the applications, Serestar Communications agreed to sell its stations as part of a $21 million deal.

Valari Staab, President of NBC and Telemundo stations, sent a company-wide email co-signed with Telemundo Station Group President Manuel Martinez, announcing its plans.

The message also indicates NBCUniversal is terminating the local marketing agreement for KNSO, its Telemundo station in Fresno, currently operated by Serestar.

The Telemundo Station Group will assume all operations of KNSO in early 2019. Control over operations in the other stations depends on the timeline of the FCC approval, but in a memo sent to employees, Serestar execs expect the purchase to be completed early next year.

In the memo, CEO Philip C. Wilkinson and Dave Burke, EVP, Local Media thank employees for their work in making the Serestar station story one of success. They also offered to quell any concerns about the acquisition, saying that joining the NBC/Telemundo team is a great opportunity for growth for all.

Below are the announcements sent to employees today by both companies:

From: Staab, Valari (NBCUniversal)
Sent: Thursday, December 6, 2018 3:00 PM
To: @NBC UNI NBC TLMD Everyone
Subject: Announcement

Dear Colleagues,

Manny and I are happy to announce the Telemundo Station Group and SerestarCommunications have jointly filed several applications with the FCC that if and when the applications are approved by the FCC, will mean that the Telemundo Station Group will add stations in Sacramento, CA and Salt Lake City, UT to the group. In addition, the Telemundo Station Group and Serestar have agreed to terminate their local marketing agreement (LMA) for KNSO, the Telemundo station in Fresno, CA that is currently operated by Serestar and owned by NBCUniversal.

Philip Wilkinson and the Serestar team have been great stewards of the Telemundo stations in these markets, and great partners to our Owned Stations Division and NBCUniversal. We are excited about the opportunity to welcome the great teams to our Owned Stations division, soon.

We look forward to sharing more information with you when we hear from the FCC about the completion of the acquisition process.

Thank you,

Valari and Manuel

 

Serestar Communications Internal Memorandum

We are pleased to announce that after many months of discussions and due diligence Serestar Communications has signed an agreement to sell our stations in Sacramento and Salt Lake City to the NBC and Telemundo Owned Station Group. The sale is subject to FCC approval and provided the parties receive that approval we expect the purchase to be completed in early 2019.

We are excited for all of you. Joining the NBC and Telemundo Owned Station Group speaks loudly about the quality of work you and our tremendous teams have done and will continue to do.

Anytime something like this happens, there are often questions regarding the process of going from Serestar to the new company and what that means for each of you. The NBC and Telemundo Station Group team will provide you with some guidance and clarity about next steps as the process moves forward.

The NBC and Telemundo Station Group recognizes the success, strength and growth potential of our stations in these two dynamic markets, due entirely to your great work. The NBC/Telemundo stations team will help you grow and achieve even more successes. The best thing you can do between now and until next steps are announced is continuing to do excellent work.

You will be receiving information regarding insurance, benefits and other important details directly from the NBC and Telemundo Station Group team leadership team; they’ve gone through this process earlier this year when they welcomed new Telemundo stations to their group so we’ll make sure you’ll have all the information and communication you need. You’ll be meeting the Telemundo leadership team before long. They’re terrific people and they are very excited about working with the Serestar team.

We wanted you to hear this from us first and we will be meeting with the entire team shortly to discuss this exciting news. We are also available to meet with you personally, if you desire, to help answer any questions you may have. Our thanks for everything you’ve done to make these stations a tremendous success story.

Sincerely, Philip C. Wilkinson, CEO &
Dave Burke, Executive Vice President, Local Media

* Updated to include Serestar’s internal memo on the sale of its stations.