Soohyung Kim and his Standard General L.P. have gained considerable notice over the past several years. This is mainly due to his sizable equity interest in TEGNA, the owner of broadcast TV stations he’s unsuccessfully campaigned to gain greater influence and control of.
Kim is also known as Jeff Smulyan‘s partner in Mediaco, the current parent of the former Emmis Communications radio stations in New York, including WBLS-FM and WQHT “Hot 97.’
Now, it’s become known that Kim has attributable interest in the radio broadcasting company led by Mary Berner.
Standard General has emerged as the No. 4 investor in Cumulus Media. And, it’s nothing new.
In fact, Standard General has held this stake in Cumulus for more than two months.
It’s only just become known, however.
According to SEC documentation, Standard General owns 866,367 shares of Cumulus stock. That accounts for 4.7% of the company, as of March 30, 2021.
And, that share value came in at $7,892,603.
To be clear, Standard General’s interest in Cumulus is much smaller than that of its two main equity investors, Silver Point Capital and Eaton Vance Management. As of the end of Q1, Silver Point maintained a 10.2% equity interest in Cumulus, while Eaton Vance’s stake was 7.38%.
Still, it is noteworthy, given Soo’s desire to gain influence at the media companies Standard General invests in.
Meanwhile, Standard General has enjoyed strong growth in Cumulus’ share value, which sat just above $11 in mid-afternoon trading on June 8, nearly recouping its pandemic-era losses by returning to mid-February 2020 pricing.
As Standard took ownership of the Cumulus shares, it reduced shares it holds in Turning Point Brands; Ballys Corp., which now has a strong partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group; National CineMedia; and TEGNA.
Meanwhile, Standard altogether shed all of its shares in Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings Inc., Nabors Industries, Precision Drilling Corp., and an entity quite familiar to radio industry veterans — Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc.
