Business News Deals Media

Former Chrysalis boss acquires eight Global stations

By | Published on Tuesday 26 May 2009

A consortium led by the former boss of Chrysalis Radio has bought eight radio stations off Global Radio, all in the Midlands, and including flagship Birmingham station BRMB. The mega-radio firm, which originally entered the UK radio market by acquiring Chrysalis’ radio business, was forced to sell some of its stations in that region following its acquisition of GCap, because by combining the two radio firms’ Midlands stations Global was deemed by competition officials to be too dominant in that region.

Phil Riley’s bid for the eight stations was backed by the private equity division of Lloyds TSB (called LDC), and a deal was done last week after earlier talks between Global and rivals Bauer Media fell through. The seven stations Riley acquires other than BRMB are FM pop stations Mercia, Wyvern and Beacon, three accompanying AM Gold services, and the East Midlands outpost of the Heart franchise, which has been operating as a Heart station since 2005. The latter will continue to operate as part of the Heart network, under licence from Global, but managed by Riley’s company.

Confirming his purchase, Riley told reporters: “We are delighted to be taking ownership of these stations. I have a real passion for radio in the Midlands as someone who has spent most of his working life in the region, and LDC are perfect partners given their Birmingham base. These stations represent a fantastic opportunity for growth and we can’t wait to start working with the teams there”.

Global boss Ashley Tabor added: “We are delighted to have concluded this deal with LDC and Phil Riley, who will be great owners of these fantastic stations. We are pleased that the Heart brand remains on air in the East Midlands, where audience numbers are going from strength to strength”.



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