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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. announced Dec. 28 that it had pulled off a $100 million debt refinancing under favorable terms, the culmination of CEO Jeff Smulyan’s years-long quest to strengthen the company’s balance sheet.
Emmis had been carrying debt far above market rates, some as high as 23 percent. It also was facing tens of millions of dollars in debt due to mature this year and next.
The new financing—an $80 million term loan and a $20 million credit line—does not come due until December 2017. It wasn’t immediately clear how much lower the interest rates on the new debt would be.
Participants in the new financing include affiliates of JPMorgan Chase, General Electric and Fifth Third Bank.
Emmis began rapidly cutting costs after the Great Recession caused a sharp decline in radio advertising revenue. The company further strengthened its balance sheet by selling radio stations and magazines and leasing a New York City radio station to ESPN Radio.
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