XM MLB Chat: NJ 101.5 sold along with 10 other stations in New Jersey group

5/9/11, Trenton, NJ, "The owner of 11 New Jersey radio stations unveiled plans Monday to be acquired by a Los Angeles-based investor group.

Millennium Radio New Jersey will file an application with federal regulators to transfer its station licenses to Oaktree Capital Management, which has made a name for itself by purchasing debt and troubled assets and restructuring them.

Millennium is not disclosing the terms of the sale. The company has not yet discussed future operations with Oaktree in detail but doesn't anticipate any major staffing or format changes, said Millennium's chief financial officer, Wilson Dorward.

Millennium's flagship radio station, New Jersey 101.5, offers a talk and news format that focuses mainly on New Jersey issues. The group also operates music and sports stations, including FM stations WJLK, WOBM, WCHR, WSJO, WFPG, WENJ and WPUR; and AM stations WOBM, WADB and WENJ....

Industry analysts said the acquisition has seemed inevitable for years, as Millennium struggled with debt it accumulated from overpaying for stations acquired in the early 2000s. Tom Taylor, a former New Jersey broadcaster and the news editor of media blog Radio-Info.com, said he expects that Oaktree will eventually transfer Millennium's stations to a subsidiary called Townsquare Media. The Greenwich, Conn.-based broadcaster owns 171 radio stations and their websites....

Oaktree did not respond to a request for comment.

The investment conglomerate, which reports it holds more than $85 billion in assets, has been on a shopping spree in recent months, investing in furniture showrooms, oil shipping and home construction. The company is also one of the main creditors of the beleaguered Tribune Company, owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and numerous television stations."