Cumulus Media has announced it has agreed to a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring with a group of its lenders that will eliminate approximately $600 million of debt,
The restructuring will see the cancellation of 100% of the company’s existing debt in exchange for 100% of the company’s reorganized equity and $50 million of new convertible notes along with the amendment and restatement of the Company’s asset-based revolving credit facility to provide continued liquidity. Cumulus says that the bankruptcy court will hold a hearing within 60 days and they will emerge from Chapter 11 protection following approval from the FCC.
The restructured Cumulus will be taken private.
Cumulus President/CEO Mary Berner said, “While we have outperformed the market on many of our most important metrics, including share gains in both local and digital revenue, the broader macroeconomic and industry-wide pressures we have faced have remained unrelenting/ “Against that backdrop, it became clear that Cumulus’s remaining debt burden limited our ability to fully realize the Company’s potential, and this agreement represents a major step forward. The prepackaged process is intended to address the Company’s debt efficiently with no disruption to our operations, our people, and our strategies. On emergence, a stronger financial foundation will better position Cumulus to continue investing in premium content, enriched audience experiences, advertiser performance enhancements, and the ongoing growth of our digital marketing offerings.”
edwardford 
As with the Audacy bankruptcy, the new owners/lenders need to make a change from the CEO who sunk the company financially. Let’s see if Cumulus pushes Mary Berner to the exit sign despite her hefty golden parachute.
Through Cumulus’ first bankruptcy, Berner dropped Cumulus’ debt from $2 BILLION to $1 BILLION. The company’s debt has since dropped to $600 Million and this will remove it altogether. She’s the one who sunk the company financially?
Reducing debt by filing two Chapter 11 bankruptcies is not the hallmark of a successful CEO. Nor is executing two reverse stock splits that did nothing positive for stockholders. Berner at the helm has wiped out investors holding common stock twice now. Cumulus revenue has been eroding quarter after quarter, year after year. She turned an asset, owned tower sites, into a financial liability, selling then leasing back the company’s tower sites.
Berner also turned down Jeff Warshaw’s $15 a share offer for Cumulus. Now Cumulus common stock is worthless.
The lawsuit against Nielsen will not end in a great victory of Cumulus, but will certainly cost millions in legal fees.
And the greatest negative is the talented people on and off air that have lost their jobs during her reign. If she turned Cumulus around after the board got rid of Lew Dickey then praise would be due. There has been no turnaround. Berner is the CEO and the blame for Cumulus failure rest with her.