Posted by Bud on October 27, 2009 at 08:16:54:
From Tom Taylor's daily Radio-Info newsletter this morning:
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Bonneville is still circling Citadel.
Does Bonneville's Bruce Reese still harbor a deep desire to own many of the 23 former ABC Radio stations? I think the answer is yes. This T-R-I Newsletter has reported various versions of the storyline for months now, and I heard it again on Friday. Bonneville was a disappointed suitor back in the final days of Disney's auction of most of its ABC Radio assets (23 major market stations plus ABC Radio Networks). I think the final trio of bidders was Farid Suleman at Citadel, David Field at Entercom and Bruce Reese at Bonneville. Fast-forward three years, and Citadel's had a roller-coaster ride with the ABC stations. Everybody inside and outside the company expects (or dreads) the corporate "event" I've been writing about. Something's gotta give by January 15, when Citadel's lenders expect it to pony up $150 million in cash. (You might as well expect Texas to start holding the Idatarod sled dog race.) Will there be a full-out pre-packaged Chapter 11 filing? Will the lenders-turned-equity holders choose to leave Farid Suleman in place? More immediately to the point of this story -- will Bonneville finally attain its goal, and then do some serious station-swapping with other operators? I think that's what Bruce Reese still wants.