Radio Deal Completed

GulfStar Communications Inc. was swallowed up last week by Capstar Broadcasting Partners Inc., in a deal that created a $1 billion company and made Capstar the nation?s biggest radio broadcasting company. The deal means Capstar will eventually wind up with 241 stations, including several in Northwest Arkansas: KEZA, KKZA, KJEM and KKIX. In Fort Smith, the stations changing hands include KMAG, KWHN and KCBD.rGulfStar, like its new parent company, Capstar, is based in Austin, Texas, and its holdings included 54 stations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and Louisiana. GulfStar was formed in 1992 by R. Steven Hicks, president and CEO of Capstar, and his brother, Thomas O. Hicks, chairman and CEO of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., a Dallas-based investment firm that formed Capstar in May 1996.r