After more than a year of trying to get the deal done, Tegna said that as of Monday, May 22, its merger agreement with Standard General has been terminated and it can collect a $136 million breakup fee. May 22 was the deadline for Standard General's financing of the deal.
That’s according to Tegna’s announcement that it has launched an accelerated $300 million stock-repurchase program and a 20% bump in its quarterly dividend — from 9.5 cents to 11.375 cents per share — as a way to return some of that new cash to shareholders.
