A deal has been filed for the transfer of WECM-FM Keeseville NY. The seller, whose initial opportunity to own the station came from the current buyer, will get a stake in the buyer in lieu of cash.
The station was once part of the ill-fated Nassau Broadcasting group, which wound up in bankruptcy.
WECM-FM is a Class C3 on 104.3 MHz with 25 kW-H, 24.2 kW-V @ 289’. It has good coverage of the market.
The seller is Electromagnetic Company LLC, headed by managing member Gail C. Goddard and shared 50-50 with William D. Goddard.
The buyer is Great Eastern Radio LLC. The managing member is radio veteran Jeffrey D., Shapiro. Vertical Capital Partners LP holds 52.3% of Great Eastern, and Shapiro holds virtually all of Vertical. Also, Shapiro holds 17.8% of Great Eastern as an individual.
The seller is also an 11.4% member of the buyer. Additional members of the ownership group include Courtney S. Galluzzo (10.4%), Brian McNeal (6.4%) and Robert Lipman (1.7%).
The seller is accepting a 6.4% stake in the buyer in exchange for the station, suggesting that it already owned a piece of Great Eastern prior to the immediate deal. Both parties agree is equivalent to its fair market value. The buyer held an option to acquire the station.
This station was formerly considered to be part of the Lebanon-Rutland-White River Junction market, and was licensed to Hartford VT. The FCC approved its new city of license in 2006. Great Eastern has no other stations in the market.
The station was listed as WWOD-FM Hartford VT when it was sold out of bankruptcy in tandem with WEXP-FM Brandon VT by Nassau Broadcasting Debtor-in-Possession to Electromagnetic Company. The stations went through Carlisle Capital to Vertical for $4.4M, were assigned by Vertical to Electromagnetic, and now the former Hartford station is essentially back to Vertical under the auspices of the Great Eastern license company.
