iHeart Files for Chapter 11; Still Owns Towers

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iHeartMedia, Inc. (PINK: IHRT) late Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company announced it reached an agreement in principle with its primary debtholders. The largest radio owner in the country by station count said the deal supports a restructuring that would reduce its debt by more than $10 billion; that’s about half of what it owes, resulting from a leveraged buyout in 2008, according to Forbes. iHeart will continue to operate during the process.

The filing in federal bankruptcy court in Houston, TX, follows a year of negotiation between iHeart and loan holders, reported Inside Radio. iHeartMedia believes that “its cash on hand, together with cash generated from ongoing operations, will be sufficient to fund and support the business during the Chapter 11 proceedings,” the company said in its announcement.  

The company owns nearly 850 radio stations; in 2014, iHeart and Vertical Bridge announced the radio owner would sell 411 towers to Vertical Bridge for up to $400 million. They executed a 15-year lease agreement for $20.8 million a year.

An iHeart spokeswoman confirmed to Inside Towers the company still owns towers. The 119 structures registered under iHeartMedia Entertainment, Inc. appear to be all AMs, according to an Inside Towers search of the FCC’s ASR database. The shortest, at 22.5 AGL, was built in 2008 in Monterey, CA. The tallest, at 431 AGL, was built in 1997 in Molino, FL.

The oldest is a five-tower AM array built in 1946 in Oklahoma City, OK. The newest is listed as a “building with pole” at 134.3 AGL built in 2015 in Providence, RI. The next-newest is a five-tower array built in St. Petersburg, FL in 2005.

March 16, 2018      

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