DEAL REACHED ON SALE OF KFVS

KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau is among seven stations being sold by AFLAC Inc., a Columbus, Ga.-based insurance company.

AFLAC announced Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent to sell its broadcast division to Raycom Media Inc. in a transaction valued at $485 million.

The deal is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

The AFLAC Broadcast Division includes seven network-affiliated television stations -- three NBC, three CBS and one ABC -- in small- to medium-sized markets.

The stations are KFVS; WAFF in Huntsville, Ala.; KWWL in Waterloo, Iowa; WAFB in Baton Rouge, La.; WTOC in Savannah, Ga.; WITN in Washington, N.C.; and WTVM in Columbus, Ga.

Local KFVS-TV officials could not be reached Wednesday to comment.

Raycom Media is a new media holding company based in Montgomery, Ala. This marks the third major media deal for Raycom, which is receiving much of its financing from the Alabama state retirement system.

In May, Raycom agreed to buy Ellis Communications, and in June it agreed to purchase Federal Enterprises.

Ellis Communications, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., has 12 television stations, said John E. Fiorini III, an attorney for Raycom Media. The purchase price for Ellis is more than $700 million.

Federal Enterprises, headquartered in Detroit, Mich., has eight TV stations. The estimated selling price of the group is about $160 million.

When all the deals are completed, Raycom will own 27 TV stations at a purchase price of more than $1.3 billion.

No changes have been discussed for any of the stations at this point, said Fiorini.

Daniel P. Amos, AFLAC president and chief executive officer, said the broadcast division has played an important role at AFLAC Inc. for almost 20 years. AFLAC purchased its first television station in 1978.

"We have built a strong group of stations that are respected leaders in their local markets," said Amos in a prepared statement. "Because the division has been a part of AFLAC so many years, we approach its sale with mixed feelings."

With improved prices for broadcast properties, the sale of the broadcast division represents an extraordinary opportunity to realize the value AFLAC has built in the stations, said Amos.

"At the same time, it will give us greater capacity to repurchase our common shares, thereby increasing shareholder value," said Amos. "As a result, we're very pleased with the agreement we have reached with Raycom."

AFLAC Inc. (NYSE-AFL) is an international holding company. Through its principal subsidiary, American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC), the company is the leading underwriter of supplemental insurance in the U.S. and Japan.

Raycom is only the third owner of KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau.

The television station was founded by the late Oscar C. Hirsch, a Cape Girardeau businessman and broadcasting pioneer who received his first radio broadcasting license in 1925. The first KFVS-TV broadcast debuted Oct. 3, 1954.

KFVS is housed in Hirsch Tower, a 13-story building built in 1967-68 in the 300 block of Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau.

In 1979, the 83-year-old Hirsch sold the station to AFLAC. Hirsch died Aug. 17, 1992, at age 96.