Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270079
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We really don't anticipate any impact," said Randy Smith, general manager.
A private investment team headed by Donald Tomlin and Gary Knapp has agreed to pay $711.4 million for the Park media chain. The deal must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission and company stockholders.
The company put itself up for sale in March, a few months after the death of its founder and chairman, Roy Park, who built the media company by spending a fortune he made at Duncan Hines foods to buy small newspapers and broadcast outlets.
In addition to WSLS, the Ithaca, N.Y.-based company owns 8 television stations, 22 radio stations and 106 newspapers in 21 states, including the WTVR television and radio stations in Richmond, The News-Virginian in Waynesboro and papers in Northern Virginia.
Jack Claiborne, a spokesman for Park Communications in Ithaca, said the new owners indicated they plan to retain Park's management and employees.
Tomlin, of Columbia, S.C., previously owned radio stations in South Carolina, North Carolina and Indiana, said John Fiorini, a lawyer representing the buyers. Knapp is a securities broker in Lexington, Ky., and a former University of Houston professor.
Claiborne said the new owners will finance part of the deal through a $573.4 million loan from The Retirement Systems of Alabama.
The $711.4 million purchase price works out to about $30.50 a share, based on the 23.3 million outstanding shares of Park Communications stock as of Sept. 30.
Park common stock closed at $27.621/2 a share Tuesday on the Nasdaq stock market.
Smith said he was told the owners own no other media properties. That's a good sign that there won't be any employee changes at WSLS, the general manager said.
"This is a newly formed group, and it's not like they have a whole army of employees they want to promote," he said. "I've heard they don't have any employees except the CEOs."
Claiborne said Park Communication's majority stockholder, the estate of Roy Park, has agreed to vote for the deal. It will take federal regulators a minimum of 90 days to approve it.
The new ownership group plans to keep the company intact, Fiorini said, but federal regulators might require them to sell some of the broadcast outlets.
When Park Communications went on the block in March, local broadcasters speculated that a new owner might pump some capital into WSLS, giving it more resources to battle cross-town rival WDBJ.
Smith said Tuesday that he's hopeful the new owners will allow Channel 10 to expand its services.
Paul Sweeney, a media analyst in Richmond with securities broker Wheat First Butcher Singer, said he was unfamiliar with Tomlin and Knapp, but that he doesn't think the ownership change will have a visible impact on Park's local outlets.
"Park has a reputation for running a good market, and I'm sure they will continue to do that," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
by CNB