LIN TV makes IPO offering

WASHINGTON – Providence, RI-based LIN TV Corp., owner of 26 TV stations, including two in Rhode Island (WPRI and WNAC) announced that it is offering investors 14.6 million shares at $19 to $22 in an Initial Public Offering to raise cash for its acquisition of Sunrise Television Corp., including the repayment of that company’s debt. LIN is under the control of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, Inc., a Dallas, Texas, investment company that took them over in a 1998 buyout. Bloomberg News reported that LIN predicted it would glean about $273 million in net proceeds from the offering, based on an estimated offering price of $20.50. A LIN spokesperson said the company would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker, TVL.