Silver Lake Kicking iHeart’s Tires?

• Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners has recently shown interest in buying bankrupt iHeartMedia — a new challenger to John Malone‘s Liberty Media, which on June 15 withdrew its $1.16 billion proposal to buy a 40 percent stake in iHeart. That’s the word from the sometimes reliable New York Post, citing “two sources familiar with the situation.” Silver Lake is reportedly in talks with iHeart creditors, the sources said, which are in line to take over control of the company once it emerges from Chapter 11 in early October, at which time it will reduce its debt load from $20 billion to $10 billion and likely seek a buyer. Leading iHeart creditors believe the company is worth between $12 and $15 billion, the source said.

The Post wonders, if Silver Lake were to buy iHeartMedia, it may look to form a partnership with Oak View Group (OVG), an entertainment and sports facilities company founded in 2015 by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff. Earlier this year Silver Lake made a strategic investment in the Oak View Group, as did iHeartMedia. Silver Lake also owns a leading stake in the Endeavor talent agency, a combination of the former WME and IMG.

Liberty Media is only eyeing a minority stake, while Silver Lake is interested in buying control, which is more appealing to selling creditors, the source said. As The Post theorizes,”Bob Pittman, iHeart Chairman and CEO, might prefer Silver Lake because it would be more likely to keep him in charge of the radio platform than Liberty, which owns a majority stake in SiriusXM and a minority stake in Pandora, so it has a stable of its own radio bosses.”