Chrysalis acquires 106 Century FM as GCap begins trading on a downbeat note

LONDON - Chrysalis is to acquire 106 Century FM from Capital Radio for £29.5m, following the latter's merger with GWR Group, which sees the creation of the new radio entity GCap Media today.

Disposal of East Midlands station 106 Century FM was a condition of Capital's merger with GWR before the Office of Fair Trading would agree to clear the deal.

Chrysalis said it planned to rebrand the station as Heart, to go with 100.7 Heart FM in the West Midlands. The area covered by the two stations largely matches the area covered by the core of the Central ITV region, which could make it attractive to local and national advertisers.

Richard Huntingford, chief executive of Chrysalis, said: "106 Century FM is a great strategic fit for Chrysalis and it will make an excellent addition to our radio business. The combination of 100.7 Heart FM in the West Midlands and 106 Century FM in the East Midlands will strengthen our branded radio network in this important region."

Separately, GCap, which started trading today, said that trading for both Capital Radio and GWR had proven difficult, with revenues for April down by 21% and 15% respectively. It blamed weak consumer confidence and low spend from traditional top-10 radio advertisers for the falls.

"The GCap Media board is taking a cautious view on overall market conditions and currently expects the principal factors that impacted April to continue in May and June," GCap said this morning.

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