The E.W. Scripps Co. Outlook Revised To Positive On Planned Debt Paydown Using Proceeds From Announced Divestitures

U.S.-based TV broadcaster The E.W. Scripps Co. has announced that it plans to sell its podcasting business, Stitcher, to SiriusXM Holdings Inc. for $325 million. The company also announced that Mission Broadcast Inc. has exercised its option to purchase the New York CW affiliate WPIX, which will provide Scripps with potential proceeds of over $75 million. The company intends to use the proceeds from these proposed transactions to pay down debt. Therefore, we are revising our outlook on Scripps to positive from stable to reflect its lower expected leverage following the completion of these transactions. The positive outlook reflects our expectation that the company's leverage will improve to the low-5x area in 2020 primarily due to its voluntary debt pay

...July 14, 2020 - U.S.-based TV broadcaster The E.W. Scripps Co. has announced that it plans to sell its podcasting business, Stitcher, to SiriusXM Holdings Inc. for $325 million. The company also announced that Mission Broadcast Inc. has exercised its option to purchase the New York CW affiliate WPIX, which will provide Scripps with potential proceeds of over $75 million. - The company intends to use the proceeds from these proposed transactions to pay down debt. - Therefore, we are revising our outlook on Scripps to positive from stable to reflect its lower expected leverage following the completion of these transactions. - The positive outlook reflects our expectation that the company's leverage will improve to the low-5x area in 2020 primarily due to its voluntary debt pay down using the cash proceeds from the sale of Stitcher and WPIX. CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) July 14, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today took the rating actions listed above. We expect Scripps' leverage to decline toward...

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