Re: ABC Radio and Entercom
> First, Emmis not Entercom seems to be the REALLY interested party.
...Not according to the CEO of Entercom. From today's Radio Business Report:
Entercom has its eye on ABC Radio
Entercom CEO David Field is making no bones about wanting ABC Radio and spelled out in his quarterly conference call how such a merger could be structured.
"As you all know, The Walt Disney Company has recently publicly announced they are considering strategic alternatives for their ABC Radio group. As rumored, we do have interest in ABC Radio. There are several other parties that one could assume also have an active interest in the ABC Radio group.
Now if Disney ultimately elects to engage in a transaction involving this operation, we believe it represents an attractive growth opportunity for Entercom, but only if the terms and conditions of the deal make sense for our shareholders.
As Disney has said, any transaction would need to take account of tax considerations. One possible structure would involve a merger in which Disney shareholders would receive a majority of the outstanding shares of Entercom and a majority of the voting structure of Entercom.
We would also lever the resulting balance sheet of the combined company at a higher level than Entercom's current level. At this point in time, however, it is important to note that we have no assurance that Disney will ultimately elect to engage in a transaction involving the radio group or what the ultimate structure of any transaction might be."
As with any ongoing M&A discussions, we do not intend to discuss or comment on any further details beyond what I have just provided here," Field told analysts. Why, you may ask, did he make that disclosure? Having done so, Entercom can now resume its stock buyback program, which had been suspended since April because of its discussions with Disney and Susquehanna, although Field said Entercom bowed out of the latter auction because Susquehanna Radio did not generate sufficient value for Entercom. Here is the kicker to keep an eye on as one analyst asked - And if there's no ABC deal, would he look at taking Entercom private? Field said management is looking at all options.
RBR observation: No doubt Disney CEO Bob Iger can find plenty of interested merger partners if he wants to run a 25% off sale like the Susquehanna deal. But Disney, unlike the Appell and Pfaltzgraff cousins, doesn't have a burning desire to raise cash. For the life of us, we can't see any reason for Iger to even consider selling or merging ABC Radio in such a soft market.<P ID="signature">______________
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