A five-station radio group in and around Atlantic City NJ is said to be about to emerge from bankruptcy, and it looks like the buyer may be one of those who owned it before and while it was falling on hard times.
Atlantic Broadcasting acquired southern New Jersey radio stations WMGM-FM Atlantic City, WTKU-FM Ocean City, WJSE-FM Petersburg, and WOND-AM/WBSS-AM Pleasantville based on a contract signed 5/23/08. The seller was Access.1 Communications, and the price was $9.5M.
Now, according to a report in local newspaper Press of Atlantic City, a pared down version of Atlantic Broadcasting looks to be the highest bidder to buy the stations out of bankruptcy. The new price is said to be $3M, although the door is said to be open should a buyer willing to spend more emerge.
The cluster is said to be some $8M in debt. Sun National Bank is the secured debtor and is said to be in for $6.8M; unsecured creditors are owed about $1.3M. All are expected to suffer significant losses.
There are other parties qualified to submit bids, and an auction is said to be on the schedule for 5/4/11, with a court hearing to approve the deal on the calendar for the following day.
