Updated at 11:31 a.m., Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Hearst buyout offer for KITV owner challenged
Advertiser Staff
Hearst Corp.'s $593 million buyout offer for Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., a company that counts Honolulu's KITV among its holdings, is being challenged by a shareholder lawsuit filed in Delaware.Bloomberg News reported shareholder Adele Brody accused directors of Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., owner of 26 television stations, of breaching their fiduciary duty to investors and is asking a judge to bar the transaction, according to the complaint filed yesterday in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington.
Closely held Hearst, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle and almost 200 magazines, said last month that taking Hearst-Argyle private will free the company from pressure for short-term results. Hearst, which owns 73 percent of Hearst-Argyle, wants the remaining shares it doesn't already own.
