Even as a bankruptcy court auction named YMF Media the new owner of Inner City Media Corporation’s radio stations, Entercom was already in the hunt to acquire KBLX-FM San Francisco. And it wasn’t the only one. But it won with a $25 million bid and the station will now go to Entercom rather than YMF – not that anyone at YMF is upset about that.
Documents filed with the US Bankruptcy Court overseeing the Chapter 11 case of Inner City Media show that Entercom was interested in KBLX-FM San Francisco before the deadline to bid in the bankruptcy auction, but didn’t make a formal bid. Things didn’t end there, however.
The court filings show that Entercom and another unidentified party (rumored to be Cumulus Media) approached the debtors representatives before the February 13th bid deadline to make offers for KBLX. “Although neither bid constituted a Qualified Bid (as defined in the Bid Procedures Order), the Debtors and their advisors, with the consent of the Consenting Lenders, engaged in negotiations with the two potential bidders to maximize the value of the Station Assets,” a court filing Monday (4/2) stated.
While YMF is still set to acquire WLIB-AM & WBLS-FM New York, station clusters in Columbia, SC and Jackson, MS and two AMs in San Francisco, KBLX will go to Entercom once the FCC approves and the final order is signed by US Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman for Inner City Media to exit Chapter 11.
There’s no need to adjust the $180 million credit bid by YMF, however. The $25 million that Entercom is paying for KBLX will go to the senior creditors, Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies and two Fortress funds. They also happen to be the principal owners of YMF.
If the bankruptcy court approves the sale at a hearing on April 19th, Entercom will LMA KBLX effective about five days later. Until the deal closes, it will pay $125,000 per month for the first three month and $150,000 per month thereafter.
