James Briggs of The Indianapolis Star writes that even though some investors were trying to sabatoge Jeff Smulyan’s attempt to take the company private, they are happy he’s still the person leading the company. And, at least one investor believes NextRadio is the technology that will change radio.
Briggs writes that he’s spoken to a lot of investors since Smulyan’s $4.10-per-share offer and they are on his side. “Virtually all of those conversations went the same way. He’s such a smart leader, they would start, followed by, I can’t believe he’s doing this to me.” Briggs also says even former employees, ones Smulyan had to let go, remain loyal to him.
Investor John Reardon was against the go-private offer and even suggested Smulyan might have to be replaced as CEO. He told Briggs, “I also think there was some threatened legal action. I made a few threats. I threw a few stones.” Now that the offer has failed, Reardon has changed his tune a bit. “I think Jeff Smulyan is a very smart guy. I think when it comes to the radio industry, there’s nobody out there that they can point to and say, well, he’s better than Jeff. Jeff’s a very capable guy. He just tried to pull a fast one.”
Reardon apparently believes NextRadio is on the verge of becoming a tremendous success and he wants to be a part of that upside. “He’s worked very hard to get the NextRadio deal off the ground,” Reardon told the paper. “I think it’s going to be a tremendous success.”
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