Discovery Comm's president and CEO David Zaslav
Discovery Comm’s president and CEO David Zaslav

It’s really happening. Discovery Communications announced Monday morning a cash-and-stock deal valued at $14.6bln, or $90 share based on Discovery’s Friday closing price, to buy Scripps Networks Interactive.

Combined, Discovery and Scripps will have nearly 20 percent share of ad-supported pay-TV audiences in the US. Cost synergies are estimated by Discovery at $350 million. The deal is expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share and to free cash flow in the first year after close.

Scripps shareholders will receive $90 per share under the terms of the agreement, comprised of $63.00 per share in cash and $27.00 per share in Class C Common shares of Discovery stock

“We believe that by coming together with Scripps, we will create a stronger, more flexible and more dynamic media company with a global content engine that can be fully optimized and monetized across our combined networks, products and services in every country around the world,” Discovery president/CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.

The combined portfolio will include: Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity, OWN, Discovery Kids in Latin America, Eurosport, HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Great American Country, TVN, UKTV, Asian Food Channel and Fine Living Network. Discovery sees strong growth potential in combining the international networks. On the non-linear side, the combined company will deliver 7 billion monthly short-form streams

More details in tonight’s Cablefax Daily.

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