Wireless Offloads Wave 105 In Debt Clearance

The Wireless Group (TWG) is to finance the repayment of its remaining bank debt through the sale of Wave 105 FM to Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) for £18.0 million. Following the disposal, TWG will be left with a cash balance of £1 million.

The move follows the £25.5 million sale of Scot FM to the Guardian Media Group in June this year. This was also instigated to aid the indebted group’s finances and helped to push the business into profit during the first half.

In the year ended 31 December 2000, Fareham-based Wave 105 reported a pre-tax loss of £0.6 million on turnover of £1.6 million. Advertising revenues for the nine months to September 2001 were up by 63% year on year. The sale price represents a multiple of historic revenue of approximately 11.5 times.

Commenting on the proposed acquisitions, SRH chief executive Richard Findlay, said: “Wave 105 is one of the most desirable of the UK regional licences. It covers the valuable south of England market, which is a rich mixture of wealthy rural, coastal towns and significant cities. It is an area historically popular with advertisers, and is therefore well placed to benefit from any lift in the advertising market.

SRH has today also acquired Wireless Group’s 24.5% stake in Kingdom FM, which broadcasts across Fife, for £1.0 million.

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