Bauer Radio has announced, this morning, that it has completed the acquisition of First Radio Sales.
FRS had been highlighted as one of the key concerns of the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), when Bauer took control of UKRD, Lincs Fm, Celador and Wireless.
At the time, Bauer said that it would offer a ‘minimum revenue guarantee” to existing FRS stations. FRS sells radio advertising on behalf of more than 100 independent local radio stations – and is the only firm providing these stations with access to national advertisers. The CMA feared that FRS would not be able to remain in business, were Bauer to buy a number of the stations that made up its customer base.
Today’s move, sees Bauer acquire the remaining 50% of FRS from Wireless.
“In the current landscape, it is more important than ever that businesses and brands are able to communicate with their customers in an agile and effective way,” said Dee Ford CBE, Group Managing Director, Bauer Radio.
“We can now offer an enhanced advertising offering including the stations we recently acquired, as well as an enhanced deal to the third-party customers currently represented by FRS”.
