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Radio giant Cumulus Media files Chapter 11

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/11/29/radio-giant-cumulus-media-files-chapter-11.html

Cumulus has filed bankruptcy and the company is going to be reorganized or restructuring at play here.

Troubled radio giant Cumulus Media Inc. said late Wednesday that it filed to reorganize in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Atlanta-based company (Nasdaq: CMLS), which is burdened with $2.4 billion in debt, owns and operates 446 radio stations broadcasting in 90 U.S. media markets.

Cumulus said it has entered a restructuring agreement with lenders to reduce the company’s debt by more than $1 billion. The company filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Atlanta Business Chronicle reported Nov. 13 that Cumulus had prepared a so-called "prepackaged" bankruptcy as it negotiated with its lenders. Earlier in November Cumulus defaulted on a nearly $24 million debt payment.

Cumulus said Wednesday it expects all operations, programming and sales to continue as normal throughout the restructuring. The company said it has ample cash combined with funds generated from ongoing operations to support its business.
 
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/11/29/radio-giant-cumulus-media-files-chapter-11.html

Cumulus has filed bankruptcy and the company is going to be reorganized or restructuring at play here.

Read http://www.insideradio.com/cumulus-...cle_f40793d6-d549-11e7-ac29-83ec6bc006bf.html

In part:

Just days ahead of potentially defaulting on one of its loans, Cumulus Media has filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to restructure the company’s nearly $2 billion of debt. While details are scarce, the company says it’s entered into what’s known as a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) with a group of lenders that hold roughly 69% of the company’s term loan. The agreement will reduce its debt load by more than $1 billion.


This is a pre-packaged Chapter 11 organized with the company, stakeholders and lenders.
 
https://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=b15271

Yes Berner announced that the company needed to get its balance sheets in order here and revenue declines have come into play though.

Cumulus expects all operations, programming and sales to continue as normal throughout this restructuring process. The company has ample cash on hand, combined with funds generated from ongoing operations, to support the business during the financial restructuring process, and as a result, it does not intend to seek debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing.

Cumulus Media President/COO Mary Berner said, "Over the last two years, we have focused on implementing a business turnaround to reverse the company's multi-year ratings, revenue and EBITDA declines, create a culture that fosters motivated and engaged employees, and build an operational foundation to support the kind of performance we believe Cumulus is capable of delivering. As we have demonstrated in many measurable ways-including increased ratings, revenue market share gains, improved employee satisfaction, reduced employee turnover and, over the last several quarters, our return to year-over-year EBITDA and revenue growth-that turnaround has not only been successful but is continuing. However, as we have noted consistently, the debt overhang left by previous years of underperformance remains a significant financial challenge that we must overcome for our operational turnaround to proceed."

Berner continued, "The actions we are taking today to address our balance sheet are a critical step forward for Cumulus. We will use this restructuring process to relieve the financial constraints on our continued progress, allowing us to focus our resources on investing in our business and people to strengthen our competitiveness and ultimately drive growth. We have ample cash to support our operations and service our advertisers, vendors and affiliates during this period, and we look forward to becoming an even stronger partner to all of them when we complete this important phase of our turnaround strategy."
 
What's left out is any mention of previous CEO and board member Lew Dickey. It was reported that his approval was needed for this deal.
 
This has effectively debunked all rumors about Cumulus filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Although I now wonder if Cumulus will eventually do a swap with Bonneville as I heard in the Fybush podcast.
 
The reality is this is what everyone expected when Mary Berner was named CEO two years ago. They really have been focused on fixing the debt problem quickly. When the negotiations broke down earlier this year, it hurt any chance of the stock rebounding. So this time they showed they were serious, and apparently got the results they were looking for. I imagine we'll hear the details tomorrow. Also I've heard Mary had a previously scheduled company-wide town meeting set for early next week.
 
And where did you hear these "rumors"? Proof, please, because the majority has always said Chapter 11.

I do not recall anyone serious ever suggesting Chapter 7. The present day value of the assets rules out liquidation as a way for the lenders to recover any significant amount of their money.
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...files-for-bankruptcy-protection-idUSKBN1DU08U



Hardly a shock, the only real question was when, not if.



Key things to watch IMO:

--What happens to Westwood One? This might be an asset that could be sold.

--Does the company stay mostly intact with the debt being traded for equity, or do the best properties get sold off piecemeal leaving a lot of stations stranded?

--Will this result in a lot of marginal stations, those airing say, CBS Sports Radio or Fox Sports Radio national feeds with little to no local operation or advertising simply going silent?



The debtholders aren't just going to meekly accept a discharge. Management better have a plan to either sell assets to pay a good amount per dollar or be able to restructure the company so the equity that will replace the debt will be worth something.



I'd like to be hopeful that this will result in a stronger industry, but I'm not. I think Cumulus' best assets will be cherry picked with the remainder left to rot on the vine.

It is good that the majority of debtholders seem to be on board with this, but the remaining ones could make things difficult in court.
 
The only Chapter 7 rumors about Cumulus or iHeart come from radoio message boards and Facebook groups. Wishfully thinking old DJs who think mom and pop operators will be getting major sations for pennies on the dollar, and old DJs will be re-hired as 60 year old top 40 jocks.
 
The only Chapter 7 rumors about Cumulus or iHeart come from radoio message boards and Facebook groups. Wishfully thinking old DJs who think mom and pop operators will be getting major sations for pennies on the dollar, and old DJs will be re-hired as 60 year old top 40 jocks.

Yeah..................................no.
 
The only Chapter 7 rumors about Cumulus or iHeart come from radoio message boards and Facebook groups. Wishfully thinking old DJs who think mom and pop operators will be getting major sations for pennies on the dollar, and old DJs will be re-hired as 60 year old top 40 jocks.
Speak for yourself! I would rather retire to the Gulf Coast than EVER darken the door of a radio station ever again!
 
Maybe the Cumulus move will begin a breakup of these Frankenstein corporation networks Get back to local programming and maybe run away from so much syndicated talk
 
Maybe the Cumulus move will begin a breakup of these Frankenstein corporation networks Get back to local programming and maybe run away from so much syndicated talk

I know this will come as a shock to you, but one of the moves the current CEO made was to return stations to local programming. That was one of the first things she did two years ago. It had nothing to do with the situation they're going through now.
 
FWIW, a company I worked for....a publisher of b-to-b trade magazines went through a prepackaged chapter 11 bankruptcy about ten years ago. Circumstances not unlike Cumulus. It was relatively....but not completely....painless. We had about 50 or 60 magazines. Fewer than a dozen of those were folded, merged, or sold off. Jobs eliminated amounted to about 7% of the workforce, which were mostly related to attrition and reducing the number of titles in our portfolio. We did not cut circulations or the quality/quantity of our editorial content. The worst of it was a three-month across-the-board 10% cut in salaries. (Sales commissions were not cut). The whole thing was transparent to our audiences.

And it was nearly just as transparent for our advertisers....most of whom were aware that we were in chapter 11. We were very upfront with them when they asked questions....which wasn't often. I was responsible for sales in the Western U.S., all of Canada, and had two reps working for me in Europe. I can't recall losing even a single customer during the process. The company emerged from the whole thing stronger, profitable, and more competitive.
 
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