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Bauer buys radio group Orion Media Bauer buys radio group Orion Media
(35 minutes later)
Magic and Kiss FM owner Bauer has acquired radio group Orion Media. Magic and Kiss FM owner Bauer has acquired radio group Orion Media in a deal thought to be worth potentially more than £40m.
Bauer, which also owns some of the UK’s best-selling magazines including Heat, Grazia and Bella, will pick up a portfolio of stations in the Midlands that includes Gem 106 and Free Radio.Bauer, which also owns some of the UK’s best-selling magazines including Heat, Grazia and Bella, will pick up a portfolio of stations in the Midlands that includes Gem 106 and Free Radio.
Orion is one of the few remaining sizeable radio groups that has not been snapped up by the UK’s two biggest commercial players, Bauer and Capital-owner Global Radio, which paid £70m to buy Smooth-owner GMG Radio in 2012, then the third-biggest group in the UK. “Free Radio and Gem are influential radio stations in one of the UK’s fastest growing regions,” said Paul Keenan, chief executive of Bauer Media. “Bauer’s desire to build out its extensive radio business is testament to the nature of the industry which continues to be a strong, robust and growing platform, thriving in the always-on, mobile, connected world.”
The amount of the deal was not revealed but it is thought to have sold for about £40m, or potentially even more.
Orion’s underlying profits - earnings before interest, tax, depreciation amortisation - were just £1.91m in 2014, according to the company’s most recent publicly available accounts.
However, the business attracted a number of bidders and a high sale price because of the scarcity of valuable radio assets in the UK not already controlled by a major group.
Orion Media was formed in 2009 by Phil Riley with backing from private equity group Lloyds Development Capital, which took a 49.9% stake.
The station’s management are set to benefit from the sale with Riley holding a 17% stake and Adrian Serle, the chief executive, owning 3%.
The group reported revenues of £15.7m and a pre-tax loss of £1.06m in the year to 30 September 2014,
“Orion has established market-leading status for audiences and revenues in each of its markets, something our teams should be immensely proud of,” said Serle. “We are extremely confident that the business will continue to thrive under Bauer’s ownership.”
Bauer has been on the acquisition trail since Capital-owner Global Radio, the biggest commercial radio group in the UK, won the £70m bidding war for Smooth-owner GMG Radio in 2012, then the third-biggest group in the UK.
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Having been outbid, Bauer has looked to build scale by buying smaller players including paying £22m for Absolute Radio and several million for digital radio station Planet Rock, both in 2013.Having been outbid, Bauer has looked to build scale by buying smaller players including paying £22m for Absolute Radio and several million for digital radio station Planet Rock, both in 2013.