CUMULUS MEDIA
Cumulus Media Rejects $1.2B Acquisition Bid by Jeff Warshaw-Led Consortium
Cumulus Media has rejected an unsolicited $1.2 billion bid to buy the company and instead is offering shareholders a $50 million stock repurchase program, according to a letter to shareholders the company filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in conjunction with its first-quarter financial results. In that letter from Cumulus Media president/CEO Mary Berner, the company said that its board of directors, along with financial and legal advisors, have concluded that the $15-$17 a share bid “significantly undervalues the company and is not in the best interest of it shareholders.” While the letter doesn’t reveal the identity of the bidder, Reuters, which initially broke the news about the bid on April 14, identified the suitor as a consortium of investors led by veteran radio indu...
Cumulus Media Subject of $1.2B Acquisition Bid by Jeff Warshaw-Led Consortium
A consortium of investors led by veteran radio industry executive Jeff Warshaw has made an unsolicited $1.2 billion bid to buy Cumulus Media, the radio network that owns and operates 406 radio stations, the Westwood One syndication operation and a digital radio platform. According to press reports, Warshaw’s consortium is willing to pay $15-$17 a share for Cumulus and may go even higher if due diligence of the company’s financials justifies an increased valuation. Besides Warshaw, the other members of the investor consortium haven’t been disclosed. The news was first reported by Reuters. Warshaw is the founder and CEO of Connoisseur Media, which owns and operates 13 radio stations that broadcast in Connecticut, Maryland and Long Island, according to the company’s website. In 2020, he also ...
