PORTLAND, ORE. — In this edition of RBR + TVBR’s TRANSACTIONS TODAY, we learn how to more than triple our money. That’s all thanks to a state of Washington LLC that’s just sold a station it picked up in October 2016 … and, for a very nice profit.
Some 275 miles east of the Rose City, via U.S. 26, is the aptly named town of Prairie City, Ore., sandwiched between the Umatilla National Forest to the north and the Malheur National Forest to the south.
Because of the region’s terrain, there’s one clearly audible AM station during daylight hours — Class C KJDY-AM 1400 in nearby John Day, Ore. On the FM band, there are three commercially licensed stations, and all offer Country music, including co-owned Class C0 KJDY-FM 94.5 in Canyon City, Ore.
Now, the owner of these stations — KJDY LLC — has agreed to acquire a second FM in this largely rural region of Oregon.
For $60,000, the company is buying Class A KHKO-FM 102.9, in Prairie City, from Xana Oregon.
The deal doesn’t just give KJDY LLC a big competitive advantage in the area.
It also gives Xana Oregon a huge payday, as it purchased then-silent KHKO in October 2016 from KBI Inc. for $13,500.
However, with KHKO now on the air, costs associated with bringing the station back from silent mode was likely factored in to the higher valuation for the property.
A cash downpayment of $10,000 is due at closing to Xana Oregon; the remainder will be paid via a promissory note.
The original CP for KHKO was obtained by KBI during the FCC’s Auction No. 94 with 35% new entrant credit. With its sale to Xana Oregon as an unbuilt facility, an unjust enrichment penalty was implicated and paid as a condition to the KBI-Xana transaction.
The KHKO sale is the second recent transaction involving Xana. On April 7, as reported by RBR + TVBR, the company sold translator K230BW in Kennewick, Wash., to Centro Familiar Cristiano for $75,000.
