Media General plans to buy Meredith Corp., owner of Channel 5 in Las Vegas

Media General Inc. said Tuesday it would buy diversified media company Meredith Corp. for about $2.34 billion to create the third-largest local TV station owner in the United States.

The deal marks Media General's return to the print business, after it sold most of its newspapers to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for $142 million in 2012.The combined company, to be named Meredith Media General, will initially have 88 TV stations that reach 30 percent of U.S. TV households, the companies said on Tuesday.Meredith's shares closed up $4.53, or 9.86 percent, at $50.47.

They earlier touched $51.30, just shy of the offer of $51.53 per share in cash and stock.Media General's shares finished down 67 cents, or 6.01 percent, at $10.48.Meredith has 17 TV stations including affiliates of CBS Corp., Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. and Comcast Corp.'s NBC. KVVU, Channel 5, in Las Vegas, is owned by Meredith Corp.KVVU is the fourth local network broadcast station to change hands in the last year.

Sinclair Broadcast Group of Maryland added KSNV-TV, Channel 3, to a portfolio that already included local stations KVCW (Channel 33) and KVMY (Channel 21). Sinclair bought the station from Intermountain West for $120 million.In February, Nexstar Broadcasting Group of Texas closed on its $145 million purchase of CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, Channel 8, from Landmark Media Enterprises.

And Ohio-based E.W. Scripps Co. completed its purchase in February of Journal Communications in an all-stock deal that gave it KTNV-TV, Channel 13, an ABC affiliate.The deals haven't been limited to the TV industry: GateHouse Media of New York bought Review-Journal parent Stephens Media for $102.5 million in cash in March.Media General did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its plans for Meredith's magazine business, which includes Martha Stewart Living, Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens.Meredith, which is more than 110 years old, also operates websites including Allrecipes.com.

Media General operates and services about 71 TV stations. The companies said they would divest or swap TV stations in six markets to gain regulatory approval for the deal.

The acquisition is Media General's second major deal in less than a year. The Richmond, Va.-based company bought LIN Media for $1.6 billion in December.Meredith Media General will be an "aggressive industry consolidator," Meredith Chief Executive Stephen Lacy, who will head the combined company, said on a conference call on Tuesday.Meredith shareholders will receive $34.57 in cash and 1.5214 shares of the new company for each share held, while Media General shareholders will receive one share of the combined company for each share held.Meredith Media General will have pro forma annual revenue of $3 billion.Including debt, the deal is valued at about $3.1 billion.Media General shareholders will own about 65 percent of the new company after the transaction closes, with Meredith shareholders holding the rest.

The companies said they expect $80 million in synergies within the first two years of the deal closing, expected by the end of June 2016.RBC Capital Markets, Media General's financial adviser for the deal, and JPMorgan Chase Bank will provide $2.8 billion in financing to the company.BDT & Co and Moelis & Co were Meredith's financial advisers.Review-Journal writer Jennifer Robison contributed to this report.