Clear Channel to Sell Fayetteville Stations

Clear Channel Communications Inc. of San Antonio, the radio giant that also owns television stations, said on Nov. 16 that it will sell 448 of its 1,150 radio stations and all of its 42 TV stations.
Arkansas Clear Channel radio stations in Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Jonesboro and Texarkana are up for bid.
The four Clear Channel radio stations in the Fayetteville market are: KKIX-FM, KIGL-FM, KEZA-FM and KMXF-FM. According to Arbitron Inc., KKIX is the No.1-rated station in the market, followed by KIGL at No. 2 and KEZA at No. 3.
Clear Channel also owns four stations in the Fort Smith market, including No. 1-rated KMAG-FM (see p. 14).
Radio stations for sale are in 90 markets outside of the top-100 Arbitron metropolitan areas.
TV stations for sale are in 24 small and mid-sized markets throughout the country.
The sale would include Clear Channel TV stations in Little Rock — Fox affiliate KLRT-TV, Channel 16, and CW affiliate KASN-TV, Channel 38 — and Memphis. Radio stations in the Little Rock market, rated No. 85 in the country, would not be included.
Clear Channel said that, collectively, those properties in the sale contributed less than 10 percent of the company’s revenue last year.
“Our decision to divest these broadcast properties was reached as a result of the ongoing optimization of our diverse portfolio of media assets,” said Mark Mays, Clear Channel’s CEO.
“These are profitable and well-managed properties in excellent markets. We believe that the sale of these stations will allow us to position our business to provide even greater value to our listeners and shareholders,” he said.
Separately, the company announced a plan to go private in a merger with Thomas H. Lee Partners L.P. and Bain Capital Partners LLC worth $26.7 billion, including $8 billion in debt.
Under the terms of the merger, Clear Channel shareholders will receive $37.60 in cash for each share of Clear Channel common stock they hold. That’s a premium of about 25 percent over Clear Channel’s average closing share price of $29.99 during the 30 trading days ended Oct. 24, the day before the company first acknowledged that it was considering a sale.