(AUDIO) Beasley: Why We Bought Greater Media

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The markets were a fit, the Beasley balance sheet was in good shape, and they found a willing seller. Those are the reasons Beasley was able to purchase Greater Media’s 21 stations for $240 million. In our interview with Interim CEO and CFO Caroline Beasley, she tells us there will not be LMAs for the Greater Media stations, and the three Charlotte stations they are picking up will be put into a trust. LISTEN HERE (UPDATED TO INCLUDE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT)

Here is the transcript of the interview with Caroline Beasely…

RI: Congratulations on the deal. Very nice. Big deal.
Caroline: It’s an amazing deal. We’re thrilled. We have been working on it for a long time. We are very happy to see it cross the finish line, the first finish line. We have to go through regulatory approvals and everything.

RI: You just finished the integration of the CBS stations. Why did you decide to take on another major acquisition so quickly?
Caroline: I think we have a very strong executive team in place. We felt that scale is important and I had been talking with Peter since last November about a potential opportunity. At that time, I felt like the CBS transition…we felt good about it. We felt good about where we were and knew that we had the bandwidth to take on another challenge, if you will. Given the potential scale jump that we would have and the improvement that we would have, I just felt like it was a great opportunity and we should pursue it.

RI: Why are those markets that you’re picking up from Greater Media the right ones for you?
Caroline: Philly is amazing. As you know, we left Philly and we’re excited to be going back. When you’re in top 10 markets, Greater Media…. they have amazing assets. When you’re in the top tier markets, that’s where you want to be.

RI: Some people, maybe even a lot of people that you talk to these days, would say it’s not really the best environment for deals this big. How was it financially right for Beasley?
Caroline: As you know, it’s a part stock, part cash deal. And our existing leverage is low. So we were able to structure it such that, post deal, while our leverage will increase, we feel comfortable with that and we’ve outlined a path to get that leverage down. Yes. I think it’s the right deal for Beasley at this time, given where our balance sheet is today.

RI: Do you plan on LMAing any of the stations? Is that part of the plan? Or just waiting until it closes to take them over?
Caroline: No, we will not be LMAing those stations. We will wait until closing.

RI: Do you have any idea yet which stations might be moved in Charlotte to get under the cap?
Caroline. Yes. So right now we are planning on putting the Greater Media stations in a trust. So those are the three stations that we’re focused on.

RI: Do you think the company can grow even more?
Caroline: Our focus will be integrating the Greater Media properties. We’re not going to be focused on expanding too quickly. Will there be growth opportunities moving forward? Yes, I would say so. But immediately, our plans will be to integrate these properties and make sure that we feel comfortable that they are where we expect them to be before looking at any larger deals like this.

RI: What did you say to the Greater Media employees, maybe if somebody that is listening that didn’t hear the exact philosophy, what would you want them to know?
Caroline: I think that we bring the same values that Greater Media has, with a company that they’ve worked for through the years. We are a family-run company. We’ve been in business for 55 years, just as Greater Media has been in the business for 60 years. We both have a passion, a love for this business. We are just honored that we’ve been chosen to be able to take these assets and hopefully take them to the next level.

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