Beattie and Quinn tune up for Xfm bid

Published on Sunday 24 February 2008 20:52

SCOTTISH businessmen Gordon Beattie and John Quinn are to bid for the Xfm radio assets being cast off by GCap media, they confirmed last night.

After engaging in talks since the disposal was announced a fortnight ago the pair, who already have interests in radio, decided that they would make an offer for the three stations based in Glasgow, Manchester and South Wales.

GCap announced the sales as part of a cost-cutting programme this month and said it was prepared to hand over the licences for Xfm's regional stations to Ofcom by 28 March.

This now seems highly unlikely with Monaco-based Beattie, owner of Beattie Communications, saying the pair had made a firm decision to table a bid for the "very high-potential" radio assets. Speaking from France yesterday, Beattie told The Scotsman that he believed the stations represented "one of the best opportunities in radio outside of London".

The Manchester station covers a catchment area of around five million listeners, while the Glasgow station covers the entire Central Belt of Scotland.

"They're really well positioned, and I just think that, run properly, they could quickly make a good return," Beattie said.

He believes that the stations could perform much better under experienced local management, rather than part of a London-based group.

He would not comment on the likely level of the bid, but is believed to have secured funding from a Scottish bank for the project. It is also understood the pair have sounded out radio professionals about running the stations.

Quinn is a 15 per cent shareholder in Central FM and has tried to buy Emap's stake in the Falkirk-based station, without success.

Beattie and Quinn may not be alone in making a bid, however. Bauer, the German radio and publishing group that acquired Emap's consumer division, is also reportedly expecting to bid for the Xfm stations. GCap is selling the stations, as well as withdrawing significantly from digital radio as it fights off a takeover bid by Global Radio, which values the Leicester Square-based firm at 313 million.

GCap is also selling the digital stations Planet Rock and theJazz. The company is pressing potential bidders to decide whether they want to table formal bids in the next fortnight.

Xfm launched two years ago out of the ashes of Beat 106. The alternative rock stations have been a draw on GCap, forecast by analysts to make an 800,000 loss this year, as audience share dropped to just 0.6 per cent. Although the Scottish station is the most successful of the group, it only captures 2.8 per cent of total listening time.