JPMorgan Bets Own Cash Again With $1 Billion for Sinclair Deal

To help pull off the biggest media deal of the year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. embraced a Wall Street practice that fell out of favor after the financial crisis.

The largest U.S. bank agreed to take a $1 billion equity stake using its own money. The check helped Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. amass the cash it needed for a $9.6 billion purchase from Walt Disney Co. without too much leverage. In exchange, JPMorgan got the promise of juicy yields.

It’s an unusual move for almost any regulated bank, but especially for JPMorgan, which would have deemed such an investment too ...