SAN ANTONIO, TX (CelebrityAccess) — Creditors for radio giant iHeartMedia haven given the broadcaster until Wednesday to strike a deal to restructure its $20 billion in debt.
According to a report in Reuters, the San Antonio, Texas-based company said in a regulatory filing that it had reached a forbearance agreement with lenders that expires at 12:59 am EST Thursday.
IHeartMedia, which owns 858 radio stations across the U.S., has been on a clock since it missed a $106 million interest payment that trigged an automatic 30-day grace period which expired at the end of the month. The company has been in talks with creditors for months, but has thus far been unable to secure a deal to refinance their debt, though negotiations over a proposed term sheet continue, Reuters reported.
iHeartMedia has been hit with two challenges of declining radio advertising along with more $17.9 billion in debt taken on in 2008 as part of a leveraged buyout of what was then Clear Channel in a deal by private equity investors Bane Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP.
However, not everything is bad news for iHeartMedia. On Friday, John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp offered iHeartMedia $400 million in debt in a deal that was expected to close by Tuesday.
