The first time Nexstar Media Group Inc. entered Jacksonville, it was a relatively modest television station operator that targeted midrange U.S. markets.
Now Irving, Texas-based Nexstar is the largest television station operator in the country and is returning to Jacksonville by purchasing the owner of WTLV TV-12 and WJXX TV-25.
Nexstar announced a $6.2 billion deal Aug. 19 to buy Tysons, Virginia-based Tegna Inc.
Tegna owns 64 stations in 51 markets, including the NBC and ABC network affiliates in Jacksonville marketed under the First Coast News brand.
Nexstar owns 201 stations across the country and is in just about every major U.S. television market.
It owned 51 stations in 2009 when it acquired CW network affiliate WCWJ TV-17 in Jacksonville.
The company said at the time it targeted markets ranking from 50th to 175th nationally and Jacksonville, ranked 47th, became one of its largest markets.
Nexstar kept growing, including a 2017 merger with Media General Inc.
As part of that deal, the Federal Communications Commission required Nexstar to divest 13 stations and it sold WCWJ to Graham Holdings Co., which also owns Jacksonville independent station WJXT TV-4.
Ironically, Nexstar had acquired WCWJ from Media General in 2009.
Although it no longer owns Jacksonville’s CW affiliate, Nexstar is the majority owner of the CW network.
Nexstar said in a news release announcing the Tegna deal that it is committed to “the long-term vitality of local news and programming,” and it hinted that it does not expect the FCC to have any major issues that would block the merger.
“The initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration offer local broadcasters the opportunity to expand reach, level the playing field, and compete more effectively with the Big Tech and legacy Big Media companies that have unchecked reach and vast financial resources,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in the release.
“We believe Tegna represents the best option for Nexstar to act on this opportunity,” he said.
Morningstar analyst Matthew Dolgin said in a research note that Nexstar, the largest television station operator, and Tegna, the fourth-largest, cover 80% of the U.S. population.
“Typically, this concentration could be considered anticompetitive, but local stations are perpetually losing viewership as they compete with streamers,” Dolgin said.
“We do not think this merger has an easy path to approval and could require station divestitures even if the cap is changed, but we see the value it could create. Additional scale could be an important lifeline for a dying industry where even Nexstar, the clear leader, has no moat,” he said.
Tegna had previously agreed to a buyout by hedge fund Standard General L.P. but the agreement was terminated in 2023 when the FCC held up approval of the deal.
One of the issues the FCC had was the involvement of Apollo Global Management in the deal and its impact on the Jacksonville market.
Funds managed by Apollo own a majority of Cox Media, which operates Fox affiliate WFOX TV-30 and CBS affiliate WJAX TV-47 in Jacksonville.
Although Apollo was only providing funding for Standard General for the deal, it raised concerns that Apollo would be connected to four of Jacksonville’s six commercial television stations.
Tegna Board Chairman Howard Elias said in the news release the acquisition by Nexstar will be good for Tegna shareholders and the company’s stations.
“This transaction with Nexstar will further solidify the critical role our stations serve in our communities, preserve their trust, and be better able to compete in today’s highly fragmented media environment,” he said.
Merger speculation surrounding Jacksonville-based CSX Corp. continues in the wake of one major railroad industry deal, with one activist hedge fund trying to pressure CSX into finding a partner.
However, CSX threw cold water on those rumors Aug. 22 by announcing a different kind of deal with one of its potential partners.
CSX and BNSF Railway announced an agreement to provide cross-country intermodal freight services.
CSX is one of two major eastern U.S. railroads and Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF is one of two major western railroads.
The other major western rail company, Union Pacific Corp., announced a deal in late July to merge with CSX’s eastern rival, Norfolk Southern Corp., to create a transcontinental railroad.
That fueled the speculation that CSX and BNSF would have to merge into a cross-country railroad to compete. CSX Chief Executive Joe Hinrichs said the company is open to any proposals that would enhance shareholder value. But Berkshire Hathaway Inc., owner of BNSF, does not intend to make a bid, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett told CNBC Aug. 25.
“The announcement of CSX-BNSF agreement to launch three intermodal services, from our perspective, indicates BNSF’s low appetite for a full-on merger, and therefore reduces the probability of rail M&A receiving regulatory approval,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Fadi Chamoun said in a research note.
“We continue to see an alternative bid for CSX to be a low probability scenario,” he said.
Before the intermodal deal was announced, Ancora Holdings Group LLC said Aug. 19 it sent a letter to CSX’s board of directors Aug. 6 and said if the company doesn’t make a deal, it should fire Hinrichs.
Ancora suggested in the letter that in addition to BNSF, CSX should be talking to Canadian Pacific Kansas City, although a merger with a Canada-based company might have trouble gaining regulatory approval.
“Time is of the essence because inaction risks impairing the long-term value of CSX. Once Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific start operating as a unified transcontinental railroad, no railroad has more to lose than CSX,” Ancora said.
However, Chamoun said CPKC is not a likely merger partner.
“CPKC management has been a vocal advocate of commercial agreements as a means to improve service and stimulate growth, which is the approach CPKC has taken with CSX and now BNSF is also embracing more deeply,” he said.
Ancora had not made any Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicating a significant stock position in CSX. Citi Research analyst Ariel Rosa said in a research note she calculates Ancora as having less than 0.2% of CSX shares outstanding, according to a story posted by industry news site TrainsPro.
Evercore ISI analyst Jonathan Chappell said in a note the intermodal agreement does not rule out a merger in the future.
“New service collaborations do not have to be mutually exclusive with an eventual merger. In fact, a successful integration of the new services could end up being a precursor to a deeper end-game collaboration between the two rails,” he said.
“We view the announcement today as confirmation that BNSF and CSX will wait to see how the UNP/NSC regulatory path unfolds from here. “
Jacksonville-based LFTD Partners Inc. reported second-quarter sales rose 9% to $10.3 million.
However, the company had a net loss of $268,950, according to its quarterly report filed with the SEC.
LFTD sells hemp-derived and other psychoactive products mainly through a subsidiary in Wisconsin called Lifted Made.
Safe & Green Holdings Corp., formerly headquartered in Jacksonville, is expanding its interests in the oil and gas industry.
The company’s main business was construction of modular buildings when it was based in Jacksonville. It moved the headquarters to Miami in 2023.
Safe & Green in February announced the acquisition of an energy company called Olenex Corp. and it announced an agreement Aug. 5 to buy a Wyoming-based refinery business called Rock Springs Energy Group LLC.
The company said it expects to pay $35 million, financed with a combination of debt and equity, to buy Rock Springs.
In an Aug. 15 letter to shareholders, CEO Mike McLaren said Safe & Green is seeking to broaden its operations.
“The combination of our diversified platform, strategic acquisitions, and prudent capital management positions Safe & Green Holdings to navigate market cycles and capture emerging opportunities,” he said.
Safe & Green reported revenue of $721,351 in the second quarter, with most of the revenue coming from its construction business.
The company reported a net loss of $4.57 million in the quarter.
Tapestry Inc.’s Coach brand of handbags and fashion accessories continues to grow sales, but declining sales at its other brands sent its stock down sharply as it reported fiscal year-end results.
New York-based Tapestry handles most of its North American distribution for Coach products from a 1.05 million-square-foot warehouse at Jacksonville International Tradeport near Jacksonville International Airport.
Coach sales rose 10% in the fiscal year ended June 28 to $5.6 billion.
However, sales at handbag company Kate Spade dropped 10% to $1.2 billion.
Sales at luxury footwear brand Stuart Weitzman fell 11% to $215 million and that business recorded an operating loss of $21.2 million in the fiscal year.
Tapestry sold off the Stuart Weitzman business Aug. 4 to Caleres Inc. for $105 million.
As Tapestry reported year-end results, it also projected fiscal 2026 results will be impacted by tariff and duty costs of $160 million, or 60 cents a share.
Including the tariff costs, it is projecting earnings of $5.30 to $5.45 a share for the year, up from adjusted earnings of $5.10 in fiscal 2025.
Tapestry’s stock, which had been rising sharply since April, dropped $17.84 to $95.69 Aug. 14 after the earnings report.