Equity player Alta Communications is backing Gary Lawrence, Hal Rose and Bob Denny in the acquisition of a majority stake of innovative broadcast company First Broadcasting Investment Partners. Lawrence is already CEO of the company and the others are members of the executive committee. Taking a back seat in the deal with be FBIP Chairman Ron Unkefer. He’ll retain a minority stake in the company, but will devote his attentions instead to his Unkefer Family Foundation and First Ventures Capital Partners. The latter company will take FBIP stations in Memphis TN and Ann Arbor MI with it. First Broadcasting is a specialist in station upgrades, and its "SpectraMax" software is said to be a major component of the transaction. Lawrence commented, "Combining our expertise and technology with Alta’s unparalleled industry knowledge and relationships will allow us to expand to new media platforms, and to accelerate our increasingly important broadcast software development initiatives." Terms of the transaction were not immediately disclosed.
