Scripps Sells Triton Digital To iHeartMedia For $230M

The E.W. Scripps Co. SSP announced Wednesday the sale of its Triton Digital subsidiary to iHeartMedia IHRT for $230 million.

What Happened: Scripps acquired Triton, a Los Angeles-based digital audio technology and advertising company, in 2018 for $150 million. In announcing the sale, Scripps said it received a cash-on-cash return of 1.6 times on its acquisition of Triton.

This transaction is the latest subsidiary divestiture by Scripps.

Last July, it sold the podcast company Stitcher to SiriusXM SIRI for $325 million; Scripps acquired Stitcher in 2016 for $4.5 million. In December, the company completed its sale of WPIX, a New York City-based affiliate of The CW television network, to the Nexstar Media Group's NXST Mission Broadcasting Inc. subsidiary for $75 million.

However, Cincinnati-headquartered Scripps is not on a total divestiture kick. Last month, it completed its $2.65 billion acquisition of ION Media Networks Inc. from Black Diamond Capital Management LLC. Scripps plans to combine ION with the Katz networks and Newsy to create a full-scale national television networks business.

What's Next: Scripps Chief Financial Officer Jason Combs said the company would use proceeds from the Triton sale to pay down debt.

"We remain focused on bringing our debt back down to our company's historical levels as quickly as possible while at the same time we reap the financial benefits of being a new leader in national television as we have been in local broadcast," Combs said.

Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of New York City-based iHeartMedia, said the Triton acquisition makes his company the only one "with a total audio advertising technology and data solution," with the addition of Triton offering "unique and critical solutions for the industry and for advertisers."

Scripps was trading higher by 10.8% to $19.47 at publication time, while iHeartMedia's stock was up 5% to $15.57.