ETM up 37% on first day of trading and the ETM thread is alive with chatter. Here's a nice article from CBS MarketWatch.
By David B. Wilkerson, CBS
MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:55 PM ET Jan 29, 1999
IPO Report
BALA CYNWYD, Pa. (CBS.MW) -- Radio station group
Entercom Communications saw its shares surge Friday in a
warmly received Wall Street debut.
Entercom (ETM) rose to 30 3/4 from a
$22.50 offering price, as 11 million shares
changed hands. The company owns more
than 40 stations in large and mid-sized
markets around the country.
Elliot Evers, a station broker at Media
Venture Partners, said Entercom's
management is "excellent." CEO Joseph
Field is a shrewd buyer who "bought
stations when they were so cheap, it was
comical," Evers said.
One of Field's smartest moves was to bring in his son David
as the company's president, Evers said.
According to Evers, the senior Field was
"cruising along" in the days before the
Telecommunications Act of 1996
unleashed a flood of consolidation in the
radio industry.
David, who formerly worked for Goldman
Sachs, "joined the company and said 'Hey
Dad, we've got to play to our strengths,' "
Evers said.
The plan? Evers said David suggested
Entercom buy more stations in markets
where it already had significant holdings --
such as Seattle and Boston -- and sell out
of areas dominated by two or more "big
competitors."
"So that was the first step, consolidate
around their strongest markets," said
Evers. "We actually helped them do that.
We sold them some stations in Seattle."
In the 13th-ranked Seattle-Tacoma radio market, Entercom
owns the No. 1 station, news-talk outlet KIRO-AM. It also
owns popular oldies stations KBSG-AM and FM and a
couple of other Top 20 outfits in the area.
In the Boston market, the nation's 10th-biggest, the
company's top-ranked stations include WRKO-AM, which
specializes in news-talk; WEEI-AM, a sports powerhouse;
rock station WAAF-FM, and others.
When the company did decide to sell to one of its large rivals,
as it did in San Francisco, it often found it could "get a great
price" for those stations, Evers said.
Other Entercom markets include Kansas City, Portland, Ore.,
Sacramento, Calif., and Rochester, N.Y., among others.
David B. Wilkerson is an online reporter for CBS
MarketWatch. |
