On Wednesday morning, iHeartMedia filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission to list its Class “A” common shares. The company did not disclose the number of shares it was offering, or set a price range, but said will have two classes of shares. A placeholder in the amount of $100 million was set to indicate the size of the IPO. That number can change. iHeart is exiting from bankruptcy with half the debt it had just over one year ago.
Buy as much stock as you can, what could go wrong.
IHeart/clear channel still owes $10 billion. The company is a great get-rich opportunity for Bob Pittman and his cadre of top executives. For the station staffs, not so much. IHeart sales commissions are still cheap, and significantly lower than Entercom in the major markets. Top reps, go-getters, do not stay around iHeart very long, when they can make 30 to 40% more earnings for the same billings at competing Entercom or other competing companies. You’d seriously have to question why any new investors would put their money into iHeart.
Dry this out and you can fertilize your lawn.