Audacy Unveils New Board Appointed By Soros-Led Lenders

Audacy unveiled a board of directors appointed by new owners led by billionaire George Soros as the country's second largest U.S. radio station owner received regulatory approval to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a privately held company.

The Philadelphia Business-Journal reports David Field will remain president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based audio content company and the entire management team will also stay in place. Field will have a seat on the board but the remaining six members are newly appointed. Field does not hold a stake in the now-private company.

David Field

Soros Fund Management, acquired roughly $415 million of Audacy’s debt during the Chapter 11 process, making it the largest post-bankruptcy stakeholder in the company. Soros-led investment firm Laurel Tree Opportunities Corp. appointed three of the directors while other owners of Audacy's first-lien debt gained two board seats with second-lien holders holding one. Audacy declined to disclose which lenders appointed which board members.

Aside from Field, the new board members are:

• Michael Del Nin, portfolio manager of FPR IM LLC, the sole investment manager for Laurel Tree.
• Brian Lakamp, former executive vice president of media supply chain at Paramount Global who previously led technology and digital ventures at Audacy rival iHeartMedia;
• Laura Molen, former president of advertising sales and partnerships at NBCUniversal Media;
• Christy Tanner, CEO and founder of Coraly Partners, an advisory firm in the media and advertising industries;
• Kelli Turner, former managing director and CFO of private investment firm Sun Capital Partners; and,
• Jim Wilson, president of digital advertising company Madhive

Audacy has not publicly designated any of the new board members as chair, a role previously held by Field. Aside from Field, all of the other board members are based in New York, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Field was not available for comment Tuesday. In a statement released after the Federal Communications Commission signed off on its reorganization plan Monday by a 3-2 party line vote, he said the company completed all of its restructuring goals and emerges with an “outstanding” balance sheet.

“Today, Audacy embarks on our next chapter, capitalizing on our position as a scaled, multi-platform audio leader, differentiated by our exclusive, premium audio content, including our unrivaled leadership in sports audio, powered by our industry-leading financial strength and focused on accelerating our innovation and digital transformation,” Field said.

Audacy filed for bankruptcy protection in January after its financial fortunes plummeted in recent years when it took on significant debt and saw its advertising revenue decline after buying CBS Radio in 2018 and trying to digitally transform the company.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston signed off on Audacy’s reorganization plan in February, which turned ownership over to a group of creditors led by Soros Fund Management and took the company private after years of being publicly traded.

As part of the plan, a group of lenders led by Laurel Tree and MBX Commercial take control of Audacy in exchange for canceling about $1.6 billion of its $1.9 billion in debt at the time of its bankruptcy filing. That reduced the company’s debt to a more manageable $350 million.

As the company waited for FCC approval, Audacy continued to work on improving its financial metrics. It said during the first half of 2024, the company grew adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — an alternative measure of a company’s overall financial performance — by 128%. The company also said it produced “top-line and bottom-line growth, driven by significant gains in revenue shares, accelerated digital revenue growth, sustained audience share gains and prudent expense reductions to enhance operating margins despite ongoing challenges in the traditional advertising market.”

Audacy owns with 220 stations spread over 45 markets.