Almost Everything That Could Go Wrong, Did, For Clear Channel Outdoor: Report
December 19, 2023 by Dave Haynes
Billboard Insider has some very interesting background insights on why there have been stories this past year of the media company Clear Channel Outdoor selling off its European business units
Clear Channel has recently sold subsidiaries in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, and the plan is to sell all of the remaining European business operations to focus on the Americas.
Billboard Insider details how the stock now sits at less than $2, down more than 80 percent from 10 years ago.
Over the past decade almost everything that could go wrong did. Bad ownership. Bad overseas assets. No one watching expenses. Covid.
One of the first things that you’ll notice is that revenues and cashflow have declined while debt hasn’t. From 2014 to 2017 iHeart Media leveraged up Clear Channel Outdoor and pulled $1.5 billion in dividends and distributions out. In January 2016, for instance all the money from Clear Channel Outdoor’s $458 asset sale to Lamar went to a special distribution to iHeart. This left the Clear Channel Outdoor public shareholders stuck with an over-leveraged company with declining revenue. The looting stopped when Clear Channel Outdoor was spun off from iHeart in 2019 but the damage is long-lasting.
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