Media General Announces Agreements with Berkshire Hathaway for Purchase of Newspapers and New Financing

Media General, Inc.

today announced that it has signed agreements with Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.,

for the purchase of newspapers and new financing. A subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, BH Media Group, will purchase all of the newspapers owned by Media General, with the exception of the Tampa group, for $142 million in cash. Media General said it is in discussions with other prospective buyers for its Tampa print assets. Under a separate credit agreement, Berkshire Hathaway will provide Media General with a $400 million term loan and a $45 million revolving credit line. The new loan will be used to fully repay the company's existing bank debt due March 2013 and will mature in May 2020. In conjunction with this, Media General will issue Berkshire Hathaway penny warrants for approximately 4.6 million Class A shares, which represents 19.9 percent of Media General's existing shares outstanding. In addition, Berkshire Hathaway has the option to nominate a director to Media General's Board of Directors. The newspapers being purchased by BH Media Group include 63 daily and weekly titles in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, in addition to digital assets, including websites and mobile and tablet applications. The newspapers also have a substantial commercial printing business.