By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON (Reuters) - Another large investor in Tegna Inc (N:TGNA) wants the U.S. regional TV station operator to pursue a merger or sale, arguing a tie-up could be very valuable at a time the industry is facing a wave of consolidation, two people familiar with the matter said.
Hedge fund HG Vora Capital Management, which owns about 4% of Tegna's stock, is the third investor to push for changes at Tegna. Standard General has laid the groundwork for a proxy contest and Donerail also wants changes to be made.
HG Vora, which oversees $5.3 billion in assets, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Standard General, which owns 9.7% of Tegna shares, last week said that it plans to nominate four directors to the company's 11-member board, including Soohyung Kim, Standard General's founder and portfolio manager.
Talks between Tegna and Standard General about board seats have faltered with the company saying publicly that it has "serious concerns (about Kim's) prior business and board service." Tegna said it will evaluate Standard General's three other nominees.
HG Vora, run by Parag Vora, is likely to be supportive of Standard General's board nominees, one of the people said.
Over the last five years, Tegna's stock price has climbed 14%, compared with a 65% gain of the S&P500 index. Over the last year, however, the company's stock price has surged 55%, compared with a 26% gain of the S&P.
Vora has experience in the media industry, having purchased a stake in Tribune Media which was bought by Nexstar Media Group (O:NXST) last year for a 30% premium.
Last year, the New York-based hedge fund delivered an 11.4% gain to its investors.
Tegna, based in Tysons, Virginia, has a market capitalization of $3.7 billion and was created in 2015 when Gannett Company split into two publicly-traded companies. It owns 62 stations in 51 markets and says it reaches 39% of all television households nationwide.