Bournemouth radio station Fire 107.6 has been sold by The Local Radio Company to Westward Broadcasting as the station announces plans to expand onto DAB.
The sale, for an initial pound, will be followed up by a deferred consideration of TLRC's sale of 80 percent stake in the station. This will be based on sales in the year ending 30th September 2009 with a minimum deferred payment due of £40,000.
The buyer, Westward Broadcasting Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triple Media Communications Group. It is the first purchase by the company into the analogue radio market.
Gareth Cottier-Jansen, CEO of Triple Media, said: “Fire is a great station and one we jumped at the chance of buying. Fire has been a part of the soundtrack to life on the coast since it was launched.
“Triple Media has a strategy of operating unique brands with growth potential. Fire Radio fits this strategy really well.
“Our plan for Fire will build on the success the station has already enjoyed, adding new branding, the fresher music policy listeners have been asking for and all the information that is essential to life in Bournemouth and Poole."
"We really rate the existing team at Fire Radio. It will be fantastic to give these talented individuals access to the creative investment and skills required to take the station to an even higher level.”
In another update this morning, UKRD has announced they now own 63.24 per cent of shares in "Local Radio" (TLRC) and urges shareholders who have not yet accepted their second revised offer, to do so.
Fire 107.6 originally launched in 1999 by founding Directors James Bromley and David Harber as FM 107.6 The NRG, but changed name a year later following a dispute with French radio station NRJ. It was sold in 2001 to Radio Investments Limited, which later became known as TLRC.
