Traders See Tegna Takeover as Coin Toss With Scrutiny Lingering

Traders are giving Tegna Inc.’s proposed $5.4 billion sale to private equity firm Standard General a coin-flip chance of going through as regulators continue to assess the deal almost a year after it was announced.

Shares of the TV station operator are trading around $19.20 on Tuesday, 20% below Standard General’s offer of $24 a share and the lowest since Nov. 14. The gap between the stock price and takeover bid is the widest it’s been in more than two months, a sign of investors’ growing concerns about regulators killing the deal.

At this point, the market is pricing in ...