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Cumulus Board Rejects Jeff Warshaw-Led Buyout Offer

davideduardo

Moderator/Administrator
Staff member
insideradio.com reports that Weeks after a consortium led by Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw made an unsolicited offer to acquire Cumulus Media for $15-$17 per share, the company’s board of directors has rejected the proposal bid, saying the price undervalues the company.

 
Here we are two months later, and Cumulus has rejected a second bid from Jeff Warshaw:


They must really dislike this guy. Their stock is down to $8, he's offering almost twice the price, and they say no.
 
They have to sell off more of their millions in LAND assets before they take the deal and run, BigA. You know how that profiteering works. Look toward the Fall and it will heat up and Warshaws per share offer will be just under $20. I wonder if iHeart won’t take an offer since they are selling assets as well. I heard something really unexpected on that a few weeks ago.
 
It’s also worth noting that Westwood One is apparently struggling, which can’t be good for Cumulus. They must see value in something Connoisseur does not. With the economy potentially heading for recession, and land values peaking and likely going down, a bit crazy they aren’t biting.
 
They have to sell off more of their millions in LAND assets before they take the deal and run, BigA.

I think I read that they sold a big chunk of land in your neck of the woods, Tibbs. What's your report on that?

I wonder if iHeart won’t take an offer since they are selling assets as well. I heard something really unexpected on that a few weeks ago.

I heard they sold your old stomping grounds on 17th. True?
 
Depends on what you are referring too. iHeart has sold the 55 Music Square building for about $12M and its officially part of the public record as of last week. Cool new digs in The Gulch. I still believe WNAH-AM’s building is ready for demo and mean to look closer to see if the station is still there. If that station is gone, then it means that no more radio stations will be on 17th/18th/Music Row. Hard to believe.
 
I agree with that translation. :)

That said, I doubt any offer will be tendered with a price tag greater than the one from Warsaw. Whether or not his group could've actually closed and funded the deal had it been accepted is another question, of course.
 
Jeff Warshaw was asked if he would pursue Cumulus again. His response was very interesting:
Given the recent press about Elon's follies after purchasing Twitter for more than five times value, one would hope that guys like Jeff would be cautious when shopping for media opportunities.
 
As long as Cumulus has land/buildings they can divest, they are in no rush to sell the Company. Why let someone else sell off the land and pocket the cash?
 
I don't Cumulus owns much real estate. They mostly lease their offices, and they divested much of their tower real estate in 2020 in an effort to raise cash: https://www.rbr.com/cmls-vertical-bridge-closing/
And a large percentage of FM sites are shared and/or leased from tower providers. If you look at NYC and Chicago, the "good" sites are leased building top locations. In LA, it's government leased land on top of a mountain ridge.

The primer radio real estate comes from "ancient" AM stations that built big rural directional systems back in the 30's and 40's and then saw their market grow up around the site, making the property very valuable.

Many of those really valuable AM sites are already gone or developed. Even the historic WLW site is being made into a development, with the station tower sitting in the middle of it.
 
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