Nassau Going Back To Original Owners

[Ned Braden]

There was a blurb today on Inside Radio, saying that Goldman Sachs is ready to sell Nassau back to Lou Mercantanti for $.20 on the dollar and then planning to sell a whole bunch of their stations. Not sure if it means anything for their New Jersey properties. I haven't had a chance to glance over the full story and what it means to all who are involved.

 

[Big Jay]

That headline is misleading... The original owners of Nassau are Herb Hobler and a few of his Princeton buds starting back in 1963. They sold the company to Lou in the '80s.. This IS an interesting story however. I hope that would mean some more LIVE and LOCAL radio in some of their markets. BE BIG! www.BigJaySorensen.com

 

[TimeIsTight]

I don't have an extra $400.00 for a subscription, so I couldn't read the whole report, but the Inside Radio webcast did give a few more details.

It seems Goldman Sachs doesn't see radio station market prices rising, or Nassau's fortunes improving anytime soon, and probably has some big gains elsewhere that it can write any loss on Nassau off against and avoid taxes, so it's taking what it can get now and getting out.

The figures stated were that Nassau owes Goldman $258-million, and Goldman is willing to accept $52-million and forget the rest. It just wants out.

Some other financier is willing to put up the money to pay Goldman off, but Nassau will have to sell stations and real estate in New England within the next two years, to pay down that new debt. Reportedly, five stations already are under contract for sale, and there is good interest in a couple of AM's that Spanish or Religious broadcasters might want.

So, Lou Mercantanti, gets relieved of more than $200-million of debt, ultimately at the expense of US tax revenue and other American taxpayers, and Goldman Sachs shareholders. He also gets to keep the mid-Atlantic Nassau stations, and has a chance to rebuild his fortunes. He must have paid some price for being too optimistic, taking on too much leverage and trying to grow his fortune too fast, but this could have ended so much more badly. He's lucky he is still in the picture.

The impact on the Jersey stations remains to be seen, but the operations will probably be necessarily be lean for a good while.

 

[qtpieislit]

That headline is misleading... The original owners of Nassau are Herb Hobler and a few of his Princeton buds starting back in 1963. They sold the company to Lou in the '80s.. This IS an interesting story however. I hope that would mean some more LIVE and LOCAL radio in some of their markets. BE BIG! www.BigJaySorensen.com

Think of it this way Jayski, as a taxpayer, you now have the distinct privilege to pay for that great Nassau broadcasting programming.

 

[Big Jay]

Well, at least my taxpaying money ain't paying for NJN any longer. I NEVER believed the state should have had ANY broadcast licenses (with the exception of traffic low-power-AM's along major highways.)

Didn't the ex-NJ Gov used to be involved with Goldman-Sex? Oh wait...that was his ex-union-leader-girlfriend's name. What was I thinking.

My time at the OLD Nassau was a mostly pleasant experience thanks to Tom Taylor.

Go to http://njrm.wordpress.com/ to listen to an interview with the founder of Nassau, the one and only Herbert W. Hobler. That is on the New Jersey Radio Museum's site. I had a wonderful time interviewing the 88 year-old former owner/founder.

Hey Samski, next time you go to Seaside, give me a holler.

BE BIG!
www.BigJaySorensen.com