iHeartMedia Sells Another Non-Core Asset

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. sold its interest in Australian billboard and digital advertiser Adshel for about $204 million as the company and its deeply indebted corporate parent sell off non-core assets, The News-Express reported Tuesday.

“This transaction presents a very compelling exit opportunity for Clear Channel Outdoor, allowing us to focus even more on our core markets,” Rich Bressler, chief financial officer of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, said in a statement.

Rich Bressler

Clear Channel will retain its ties to APN News & Media, which bought Adshel, through its partnership in iHeartRadio in Australia and New Zealand, he said.

iHeartMedia Inc. — the radio, billboard and digital company based in San Antonio — owns about 90 percent of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, which is based in Arizona.

The transaction follows other asset sales by iHeartMedia and Clear Channel Outdoor. In the first quarter, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings sold nine U.S. billboard markets for $594 million. The markets were Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; Seattle, Washington; and Wichita, Kansas.
The company also recently sold radio broadcast towers and two buildings in San Antonio, including iHeartMedia’s headquarters office, which it now leases.

The company, which hasn’t turned a profit since 2009, was struggling under a crushing $20.8 billion in debt at the end of the second quarter. Company spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg wouldn’t say whether the money would be used to help pay down its debt.

“The cash is on the balance sheet of Outdoor and is available for general corporate purposes,” Goldberg said in an email Tuesday.