JS Acquisition and private asset management company Alden Global Capital said they have signed a letter of intent in which JS Acquisition will buy nearly all stock of Emmis Communications Corporation for $2.40 a share.
If the deal passes muster with stockholders and regulators, Emmis would become a private company. Emmis has a market capitalization of $89.55 million.
Shares owned by JS Acquisition and Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan would be exempt from the transaction. After the deal closes, Smulyan would hold substantially all of a new class of Emmis stock and retain voting rights. According to the company’s most recent proxy statement, Smulyan already controls approximately 70.4% of the total Emmis voting stock.
JS Acquisition would own all of a new class of non-voting Emmis common stock that will represent substantially all of the outstanding equity value of Emmis.
The deal is also subject to certain conditions.
Emmis trades on NASDAQ with the symbol EMMS and closed on Monday at $2.38, up 3.48% from Friday’s close. On the 1st of April, EMMS was trading at $1.15 per share.