Tycoons in talks to snap up Xfm regional stations

Published on Saturday 23 February 2008 16:38

SCOTTISH tycoons Gordon Beattie and John Quinn are in talks to acquire the three Xfm regional radio stations put up for sale by GCap.

The pair are believed to have lined up a financing package with a Scottish bank and have appointed advisers to handle the negotiations.

GCap is selling the stations in Glasgow, Manchester and Cardiff and is pressing the Scots and other potential bidders for a decision within the next two weeks. If a buyer cannot be found, GCap says it will hand over the licences for Xfm's regional stations to Ofcom by March 28.

Bauer, the German radio and publishing group that acquired Emap's consumer division, is also thought to be among the likely suitors for the Xfm stations, incorporating them and possibly Kerrang! into its Q radio brand.

Monaco-based Beattie, who owns public relations agency Beattie Communications, has interests in radio, while Quinn is a 15% shareholder in Falkirk-based Central FM and tried unsuccessfully to acquire the 20% stake held by Emap.

Xfm launched two years ago out of the ashes of Beat 106, which had been backed by a celebrity list of supporters including Ally McCoist, Sharleen Spiteri and Carol Smillie. Beat was acquired by Capital Radio just a year later for 33m.

Capital merged with GWR to form GCap, which put the stations up for sale this month in what some have seen as a defence against a 313m takeover bid from Global Radio.

GCap chief executive Fru Hazlitt announced the disposal as part of a wider strategy for the group that includes ditching its digital stations Planet Rock and theJazz.

Teen-oriented Xfm's four stations – the London station will be retained by GCap – have struggled to compete. They are forecast to make an 800,000 loss this year and have seen their audience share collapse to just 0.6%. The Scottish station is the best performer, but with just 2.8% of total listening time, it is also making a substantial loss.

Beattie said: "We are taking a look at it and we'll make up our minds in the next week if we are going to bid."

Quinn, who last year sold his equipment supplies company for 20m, said: "We are pretty keen. We have an appetite and we've taken advice. I wouldn't like to go through all this and be a loser."

He said they had lined up experienced radio professionals who would manage the stations. "The radio industry is in a mess. These stations were originally run by local people who knew their patch. The local approach is the way forward," he said.