EMMIS SELLS POWER 106-LA

Emmis Communications has agreed to sell one of its flagship Urban stations, KPWR 105.9 FM in Los Angeles, for $82.75m.

The new owners are the Meruelo Group, who operate one of Power's main market competitors, classic hip-hop outlet 93.5 FM KDAY, along with Rhythmic CHR "Wild 93.5" FM KDEY Ontario.

Emmis has owned the station for over thirty years, purchasing the signal from Century Broadcasting in 1984 and flipping it to a dance-leaning CHR called "Power 106" in January of 1986. The station moved towards hip hop in the early nineties, in order to compete with the launch of Evergreen Media's "92.3 The Beat" (KKBT).

The sale allows Emmis to make good on an arrangement with its lenders requiring the company to divest at least $80m worth of properties by January of 2018, to help lower its leveraged ration down to 4x cash flow.

Emmis will hang on to the remainder of its portfolio, which includes four FM stations in New York (including Hot 97 (WQHT-FM), four in St. Louis, 3 FMs and one AM station in Indianapolis, and 5 FMs and one AM in Austin.

“Power 106 has been part of the Emmis family for more than 32 years, so this day is bittersweet, but I am confident that the station and our team are in good hands,” said Jeff Smulyan, Chairman and CEO of Emmis. “The Meruelo Group will be great owners of this historic brand, and take it to even greater heights.”