Deals
CBS Tunes Out Radio Business With Tax-Free Entercom Merger
- $1.6 billion deal creates No. 2 U.S. radio station owner
- Parent company failed to find a buyer for historic radio unit
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CBS Radio Inc. is merging with broadcaster Entercom Communications Corp., giving parent CBS Corp. an exit from the shrinking AM/FM radio business after prospects for an outright sale or initial public offering dwindled.
In the tax-free deal, CBS will combine its group of stations dating back to the inception of Columbia Broadcasting System in 1927 with Entercom’s to create the second-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., behind IHeart Media Inc. David Field, chief executive officer of Entercom, will lead the combined company.