iHeartMedia is preparing for life after bankruptcy as it has submitted its restructuring plan to the FCC for approval.
While Liberty Media’s offer to purchase 40% of the company is no longer on the table, the company will be the largest individual shareholder of the post-bankruptcy iHeartMedia under the current restructuring agreement between the company and its debt holders. Liberty Media subsidiary Mould Fountain Funding, LLC will hold between a 6 and 10 percent voting stake in Post-Reorganization operating structure of iHeartMedia Inc. All other shareholders will hold less than five percent each. Liberty Media purchased $400 million of iHeartMedia debt earlier this year from Blackstone Group’s GSO Capital Partners to attain that position.
iHeartMedia will be required to divest two stations as it loses its grandfathered status in Brunswick GA and Grand Forks ND. The company intends to place one of its four FMs each in Brunswick and Grand Forks in a divestiture trust upon its exit from bankruptcy.