Cumulus Media said it would acquire Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff’s rad...

Atlanta, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and York, Pa. Cumulus will contribute its 2 FMs in Houston and 2 in Kansas City to the new partnership, in return for an initial 25% ownership. That could hit about 40% based on performance incentives. Cumulus also will be paid a fee to run the group, to be called Cumulus Media Partners. The partners will put up cash for the deal, with debt financing from 4 banks. Susquehanna separately agreed to sell the remaining 70% stake in its cable division for $540 million to Comcast, which already owned the other interest. The cable systems have 225,000 subscribers in Pa., N.Y., Me. and Miss. Comcast’s purchase of Susquehanna should be reviewed by the FCC along with its takeover of Adelphia with Time Warner, media reform groups said. The deal for Susquehanna would already have been subject to FCC review, said Andrew Schwartzman of Media Access Project. His group submitted the motion to hold in abeyance on behalf of Free Press, Center for Creative Voices in Media, Center for Digital Democracy and others. The price Comcast is paying for Susquehanna subscribers is less than some previous deals. The price of $3,260 per customer compares with Cox’s privatization last year, valuing the firm at $3,900, wrote Jefferies & Co. analyst Robert Routh in a research note. Comcast, along with Time Warner, is paying $3,400 for each Adelphia subscriber, Routh estimated. He expects “fears to be heightened based on the lower per subscriber value.”