Posted by Bud on August 12, 2009 at 08:26:32:
Despite WLS-AM & WLS-FM's great successes here in Chicago, Citadel may be looking to unload the former ABC-owned radio stations. The following comes from Tom Taylor's daily Radio-Info e-newsletter today:
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Rumor check –– Is Citadel pursuing a deal to sell the former ABC Radio stations?
That would unwind the entire deal with Disney that's turned out to be so costly for Citadel and its stations. (It worked out great for Disney.) One of the rumors out there is that this would be a mammoth-sized deal for all 23 former ABC Radio stations, going to just one buyer. The folks I've checked with in the brokerage community doubt this one, though. One just said bluntly, "No way." Another explains that getting the debt financed, even with large amounts of equity laid down by the buyer, would be excruciatingly difficult in today's environment of battered lenders. (He asks "how do you sell this to your loan committee, after all the losses they've taken?") Giving up the former ABC Radio station group would mean selling off about half the cash flow of the company. There are also rumors of a new wave of cost cutting at Citadel -- and nobody I talked to had trouble believing that one.