Under the agreement, Entercom Communications will manage the stations for up to three years, after which Entercom has the right to purchase the stations for $180 million. During the management contract, Tribune will seek to identify suitable television assets to be acquired in an exchange transaction.
Current management has done an excellent job in making these three stations an integral part of the Denver market, said Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune Company president and chief operating officer. But given the rapid consolidation of the Denver radio marketplace and the number of multi-station owners, we view this transaction as an opportunity to generate excellent value for our shareholders and to expand our television group in the future.
Joseph Field, Entercom’s chairman and CEO commented: We are pleased to announce this Denver acquisition that focuses so clearly on Entercom’s strategic acquisition goals. It will provide us entry into an additional major growth market, enhance our geographic diversity and expand our national marketing reach into Mountain States economic region.
