Media holding firm - and parent company of Newstalk - Communicorp Group has announced it has acquired eight regional radio stations from Global Radio in the UK.
Smooth East Midlands, Smooth North West, Smooth North East, Capital Scotland, Capital South Wales, Real Radio North Wales, Real Radio Yorkshire and Real XS are set to become part of the groups international portfolio.
This is subject to regulatory approvals.
The sale is taking place under the supervision of the UK Competition Commission, who have approved Communicorp as a suitable owner of the stations.
Communicorp intends to re-brand the 'Real' stations under the 'Heart' radio franchise and plans to re-launch the 'Smooth' stations, following the re-introduction of local programming.
Speaking today, Communicorp CEO Gervaise Slowey said "We have been looking at the UK market for some time now and we are delighted to be adding these radio stations to the Communicorp Group".
"Each of these stations has a strong and loyal following and this move will make Communicorp the fourth largest commercial radio group, in the UK".
"The brand licence agreement that we have in place with Global for Heart, Capital and Smooth will allow us to combine the strength of a national brand, with a local presence. We feel that this will provide the best customer offerings to each of the stations’ audiences" she added.
The eight stations have 2.8 million listeners combined, according to Radio Joint Audience Research.
On completion, Communicorp intends to retain the management team of Real & Smooth Limited, and Mark Lee will remain CEO and continue to lead the business.
Communicorp says the deal will bring the total number of stations in its radio group to 27.
Pictured above: Communicorp chairwoman Lucy Gaffney
