According to brokerage firm CobbCorp, the deal in which ACME Communications is sending its WBUW-TV Janesville WI to Byrne Acquisition Group has reached the finish line. The station serves the Madison WI DMA, bringing programming from CW into the market.
There are a pair of Byrnes behind Byrne Acquisition, John and Blake. They add the station to a slim portfolio that at the moment includes only one low power television station, W48CX Hilton Head Island SC.
CobbCorp worked on behalf of the seller, headed by Douglas Gealy. ACME is closing in on the sale of all of its television assets – at one time, it had 11 stations in its portfolio.
The price for the sale is $1.825M cash.
“We are more than excited to bring our broadcast experience to WBUW and their dedicated team of employees,” said President John Byrne at the time the acquisition was announced. “We are looking forward to serving the community and the viewers of WBUW and the Madison market. We appreciate the efforts that ACME has provided to the community of Madison.”
The deal not only reached the finish line, it got there ahead of schedule. The transfer application and contract arrived at the FCC 12/21/11, and closing was anticipated sometime in the second quarter of 2012. This announcement places the closing date almost perfectly at the midpoint of the first quarter.
