Starting in June 2010, Cumulus made multiple unsuccessful offers to buy out Citadel Broadcasting after its emergence from bankruptcy.[33]
In February 2011, Cumulus was again said to be in "exclusive
negotiations" to acquire Citadel for $2.5 billion paid to Citadel
shareholders, according to CNBC. Some Citadel shareholders were said to have been pushing the board to consider a sale.[34] On March 10, 2011, Citadel Broadcasting
stations announced via email that Cumulus had purchased Citadel
Broadcasting. Citadel was made up of 225 radio stations in over 50
markets, as well as Citadel Media,
one of the largest radio networks in the United States. The deal was
finalized on September 16, 2011, after acceptance by the FCC and
Citadel's shareholders.[4] As part of the deal, Cumulus Media will have to place 14 stations into a separate trust to comply with ownership limits.[35] Following the acquisition, in an effort to focus on larger markets, Cumulus reached a deal with Townsquare Media to swap 65 radio stations in 13 markets, with the majority of the 65 stations being sold to Townsquare.[36]
On August 29, 2013, it was reported by The Wall Street Journal that Cumulus would purchase the syndicator Dial Global for $260 million. To fund the sale, Cumulus, sold 53 more stations to Townsquare Media for $238 million, in markets such as Danbury, CT, Rockford, IL, Cedar Rapids, IA, Quad Cities IA/IL, Waterloo, IA, Portland, ME, Battle Creek, MI, Kalamazoo, MI, Lansing, MI, Faribault, MN, Rochester, MN, and Portsmouth, NH. Additionally, Townsquare Media acquired Peak Broadcasting, and Cumulus swapped 15 more stations in Dubuque, IA and Poughkeepsie, NY in exchange for Peak Broadcasting’s Fresno cluster.[37][38] The sale to Cumulus was completed on November 14, 2013.[39
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