Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s board has authorized the company to repurchase up to $1 billion of its class A common shares.

The new $1 billion repurchase authorization is in addition to the company's existing share repurchase authorization, of which about $89 million of repurchase capacity remains, the company said Aug. 9. The new share repurchase authorization has no expiration date.

The share repurchase authorization follows the termination of Sinclair's merger agreement with Tribune Media Co. Also, Tribune Media sued Sinclair Broadcast Group in the Delaware Chancery Court for allegedly breaching the merger agreement between the two companies.

"It is unfortunate that Tribune Media Company terminated our Merger Agreement. Nonetheless, we strongly believe in the long-term outlook of our Company and disagree with the market's current discounted view on our share price," Chris Ripley, Sinclair Broadcast Group's president and CEO, said in a statement. "The $1 billion authorization does not use our future free cash flow generation, but simply the excess cash currently on our balance sheet."