Following formal FCC approval, Audacy has announced the successful completion of its financial restructuring. The broadcaster is also providing news on the company’s future, including its leadership and surprising news from an investor standpoint.
Audacy will continue under the leadership of David Field as President and CEO. Field will also serve on the company’s new Board of Directors. The existing management team remains in place as the company moves forward.
With the completion of its restructuring, Audacy is expected to transition into a private company. The company has been trading as an over-the-counter option since being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last November.
Field commented, “We are pleased to have successfully achieved all of our restructuring goals, emerging with an outstanding balance sheet, delivering industry-leading growth, serving our listeners and advertisers with excellence and honoring our commitments to employees and partners.”
“Today, Audacy embarks on our next chapter, capitalizing on our position as a scaled, multi-platform audio leader, differentiated by our exclusive, premium audio content, including our unrivaled leadership in sports audio, powered by our industry-leading financial strength and focused on accelerating our innovation and digital transformation. We are maximizing a broad set of opportunities to further accelerate our growth for the benefit of Audacy and all of its stakeholders.”
The restructuring reduced Audacy’s funded debt by approximately $1.6 billion – from about $1.9 billion to $350 million. This represents an 80% reduction in debt, positioning the company with a total net leverage of approximately 2.7x.
In Q2 2024, Audacy found increased digital and sports revenue but a decline in spot advertising. The company posted a net income of $2.93 million, a significant improvement compared to Q2 2023’s net loss of $125.80 million.
Total revenue for the quarter reached $301.61 million, up from $298.51 million in 2023, bolstered by political advertising and digital growth. Digital revenue rose to $74.39 million, while local and national spot advertising dipped to $179.66 million. Music radio revenue grew slightly to $146.81 million, and sports programming saw an 8.33% boost to $71.08 million. However, News/Talk revenue dropped 2.33% to $43.06 million.
Operating expenses decreased to $304.57 million, down from $433.08 million in 2023, aided by $3.87 million in restructuring charges. Audacy reported a net operating loss of $2.96 million, a significant improvement over last year’s $135.29 million loss.
Soros will have what’s broadcast mirror his way of thinking soon enough. Rest assured, he didn’t invest because he saw a good biz opp.
What happens to existing shareholders?
Gone. The stock disappears and the company is going private. Previously, one of the largest stockholders was the founder of the company (Joseph Field, father of David). His stock in his own company is now worthless.
The creditors that accepted the near worthless equity (worthless in comparison to the actual amount originally owed ) should sell out. What the creditors have accepted in exchange will never equal what was actually owed to them. Get your money and run because the value of what you have will not increase. It must be incredible to have billions of dollars just wiped away and have Soros come in and assume 40% of your debt! Now the same guy running the show, gee what will Audacy learn from this? Probably not a thing! Audacy will probably not be anymore than what it is in a few years anyways. If you are one of the poor souls that work there, GET OUT! Why would anyone continue working in that unstable environment if they didn’t have too?
What is very telling, is that Audacy is keeping Fields and his minions as “management”. These are the exact same people that put Audacy in the place they are now.
The definition of insanity!
Seems to me (and what do I know) that the problems with most radio companies today have very little to do with current management. The problem, for the most part, IMHO is that radio companies took on way too much debt in the post-1997 bubble. No one calls it a bubble, probably because we are such a small industry no one notices.
Smart people at the time predicted it (all the debt) would not work out well.
“The creditors that accepted the near worthless equity (worthless in comparison to the actual amount originally owed ) should sell out.”
They did. That’s where George Soros comes in. He bought up a lot of the debt. But the creditors also have equity in a company that generates hundreds of millions of dollars every year. They WILL get paid back. Just over a longer term than what they originally signed for.
There is no guarantee at all that the investors “will get their money back.” No “guarantee” (as you say) at all. Right now, investors are not getting paid on over a billion dollars in loans. And the investors are hoping that the paper they accepted, somehow becomes worth more than the original Audacy stock, which is now worthless.
” No “guarantee” (as you say) at all.”
I didn’t say “guarantee.” There’s never any “guarantee” of anything except death & taxes. The company makes money. They get all of it. There won’t be any stockholders anymore.
The guy that runs his Dad’s company into bankruptcy gets to stay in charge
🤡 Screw your investors and stockholders then sell to a communist and get bonuses for destroying a company. Only in Biden’s America!
Soros doesn’t own the company. He owns a portion of its debt. In the same way the Chinese own almost a $trillion in US debt.
Hooray. As once said, “May All Boats Rise!”
Sure. Stiff your creditors for over a billion dollars, and anything is possible!
How would Audacy feel if their advertisers did not pay them??!
The creditors weren’t stiffed. They now OWN the company. The received equity in exchange for their debt. That’s how Chap 11 works.
Creditors (really had no other choice) accepted “equity” that may or may not be worth something down the road. But as of now, the creditors have been stiffed out of their $billion+ loans to Audacy.
THAT’S how Ch 11 bankruptcy “works”. Sometimes.
No one forced them to lend that money. They knew what they were getting into. Audacy isn’t the first radio company to go bankrupt. They could have gone Chap 7, and liquidated the company. So yes, they had a choice. They see value in retaining the assets. On the other side, David Field & his father lost millions of dollars in equity in a company they started. Field is now an employee of the creditors, and they will tell him what to do. He’s now in a different situation.