iHeartMedia files for bankruptcy
[Photo by: @iHeartMedia/Twitter]
iHeartMedia Inc., which happens to be the country's largest radio broadcaster with around 850 stations, is filing for bankruptcy, NPR reports.
Read more: iHeartMedia reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy
As previously reported, the company was nearly $20 billion in debt because of its buyout in 2008, approximately $8.4 million of which is due in 2019.
The company has reached “an agreement in principle with holders of more than $10 billion of its outstanding debt and its financial sponsors” to restructure and essentially cut its debt in half, NPR reports from a press release from the company.
On March 2, Bloomberg reported iHeartMedia Inc. was “circulating documents for a bankruptcy filing.” This news wasn't as new as it seemed, however. Last April, Forbes talked more about how the company was struggling, with multiple red flags seeming to suggest “that the end may be near.” They report that the company lost money in 2015, 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, without much hope for increased cash flow.
“If iHeart itself is willing to admit that there is 'substantial doubt' as to whether or not the company can continue as a going concern (a firm that can stay above water, essentially), there is no reason not to believe what it says,” Forbes shared.
Following today's news, the company said it believes it has enough cash to continue to operate during said restructuring, Memphis Business Journal reports.
“The agreement we announced today is a significant accomplishment, as it allows us to definitively address the more than $20 billion in debt that has burdened our capital structure,” chairman and CEO Bob Pittman said, the business news source reports.
