As part of its ongoing bankruptcy restructuring, iHeartMedia has reached an agreement to fully seperate its 89.1% stake in Clear Channel Outdoor.
London based Clear Channel International Chairman/CEO William Eccleshare will become CEO of the independent Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings. Scott Wells will be CEO of the business in the Americas. The separation will become official when iHeartMedia exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.
iHeartMedia, Inc. (PINK: IHRTQ) (“iHeartMedia”) and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCO) (“CCOH”) announced that they have reached an agreement on the material terms to fully separate CCOH’s business from iHeartMedia, which currently owns 89.1% of CCOH’s outstanding common stock.
The separation is expected to occur in conjunction with, and is subject to, iHeartMedia’s emergence from its ongoing restructuring process. The material terms of the separation are outlined in CCOH’s Form 8-K, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, December 17, 2018.
Effective upon iHeartMedia’s emergence, William Eccleshare will become Chief Executive Officer of CCOH. Mr. Eccleshare, who currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Clear Channel International (CCI), has deep experience in creating value for advertisers across the out-of-home industry. He joined CCI in 2009 and went on to lead Clear Channel Outdoor, including full operational responsibility for CCI and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas (CCOA), before assuming his current role, in which he is responsible for overseeing CCI’s business operations in 22 countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America. Mr. Eccleshare will be based in London and will also continue to lead CCI as part of his new role.
Scott Wells will continue to lead CCOA as CEO, driving innovation and a customer-centric focus at the business. He will report to Mr. Eccleshare.
Until the company exits the restructuring process, Bob Pittman and Rich Bressler will continue their current leadership roles for CCOH, with Mr. Pittman as CEO and Mr. Bressler as President and Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Eccleshare will also be a member of the new Board of Directors of CCOH, which will be announced prior to the separation.
“Today’s announcement is recognition that while iHeartMedia and CCOH are both very strong in their respective areas – iHeartMedia is America’s number one audio company and CCOH is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies – their key constituencies have little strategic overlap. We believe that the separation of the two businesses makes strategic and financial sense, and will allow each company to better achieve their individual missions,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc. and current CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. “Although both businesses are powerful advertising platforms, they each have valuable but different touch points within the advertising community and pursuing separate, highly-targeted strategies will unlock their full potential as freestanding companies.”
“William Eccleshare has a long, successful track record at CCOH, and throughout his career in the advertising industry, and has played an instrumental role in driving growth across CCOH’s business, especially in digital,” said Mr. Pittman. “Scott Wells will continue his successful leadership of CCOA, fostering deep relationships with advertising partners and growing the company’s offerings in exciting areas such as programmatic. With these strong leaders and CCOH’s creative, innovative and dedicated team, the future standalone company will be very well positioned for future growth and success.”
CCOH’s current leadership and Board of Directors will remain in place until iHeartMedia exits its restructuring process, at which time the new executives and Board will assume their responsibilities.
