Radio Giant Audacy Set To Exit Bankruptcy With Soros Fund Management As Largest Shareholder

By Jill Goldsmith, Ted Johnson

February 15, 2024 1:54pm

Soros Fund Management is set to become the biggest shareholder of Audacy (formerly Entercom), the radio station owner and podcast company that filed for bankruptcy in January.

Audacy was pushed into Chapter 11 by the cost of financing its hefty $1.9 billion in debt. The bankruptcy was prepackaged, meaning it had already lined up support from lenders. A court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Documents filed in bankruptcy court in the Southern District of Texas show that billionaire investor George Sorors’ Soros Fund Management had acquired about $415 million of Audacy’s first-lien debt, which would make SFM the broadcaster’s biggest shareholder when it emerges from bankruptcy.

Holders of first-lien debt, also called secured debt, are paid back before all other stakeholders. In bankruptcy, these debt holders can swap their debt for equity.

“The decision by our existing and new debtholders to become equity holders in Audacy represents a significant vote of confidence in our company and the future of the radio and audio business,” Audacy said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Audacy is the nation’s second largest radio operater (after iHeart Media) with 225 stations in 45 markets., including KROQ and KCBS in Los Angeles and WFAN and WINS in New York. Its podcasts have more than 150 million monthly downloads.

Entercom, founded in 1968, acquired CBS Radio in 2017 (racking up debt). It operated as Radio.com following the merger, rebranding as Audacy in 2021.

Soros Fund Management was most recently part of a group of debt holders that took Vice Media out of bankruptcy.