LONDON: UK media group Chrysalis is selling its radio station business for £170 million ($339.5m; €252m) to Global Radio, a private equity firm headed by Charles Allen, the former ceo of the country's biggest commercial television broadcaster, ITV.
Chrysalis will be left as a music-only company following the disposal of the radio arm, which includes popular stations such as Heart and LBC.
The company began building its radio portfolio in 1994 and expects to pocket a £95m profit, which will be returned to shareholders.
Says ceo Richard Huntingford: "We are absolutely happy with the sale and price and . . . we made a very successful return on our investment."
Huntingford intends to step down from the company once the deal is inked later this year.
He adds: "Chrysalis had TV, radio, books and music - now it's just a music business. It won't need a group plc management structure and it won't need a group chief executive or group finance people.
"We've got to get this transaction concluded and execute the return of capital to shareholders, which won't take place until autumn. But I will be leaving some time later in the autumn."
Data sourced from Financial Times Online and MediaGuardian.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
