Sinclair later announced that it would keep its existing assets and sell KSTU to a third party to be determined later, and reports speculated that Sinclair would sell KSTU back to Fox Television Stations. On April 24, 2018, Sinclair announced that KSTU would be one of 23 stations sold to obtain approval for the merger, though it was one of seven stations for which a buyer was not disclosed (KMYU will concurrently be acquired by Howard Stirk Holdings). On May 9, 2018, it was officially announced that Fox Television Stations would buy back KSTU, as part of a $910-million deal that also involved six other Tribune-owned stations (Fox affiliates KTXL/Sacramento, KCPQ/Seattle, KDVR/Denver, WJW/Cleveland and KSWB-TV/San Diego, and CW affiliate WSFL-TV/Miami).