Posted at 12:41 p.m., Wednesday, July 5, 2006
OHA exploring bid to buy KGMB from Emmis
By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer
By a 4-1 vote with one member abstaining, OHA trustees approved a plan to study the purchase of the local CBS affiliate.
During a joint meeting of OHA's Asset and Resource Management, and Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment committees, OHA trustee Oswald Stender said KGMB owner Emmis Communications Corp. is asking about $40 million for the local station, which generates about $3.2 million in annual income.
Stender said that he has had initial discussions with KGMB's general manager Rick Blangiardi and Kathryn Bueker of the Blackstone Group, which is handling the sale for Emmis. Stender said the Emmis has received two offers from mainland investors in the $20 million to $25 million range.
Bueker could not be reached for immediate comment.
Emmis has said it plans to sell KGMB by the end of the year. Earlier this year, Emmis sold KHON-TV to California-based Montecito Broadcast Group. Any deal would include KGMB's 41,000-square-foot offices on Kapi'olani Boulevard, which could fetch anywhere between $12 million and $16 million in today's real estate market.
