JazzFM to float
Digital station Jazz FM has been re-acquired by its original owner Richard Wheatly with view to stock market floatation.
The deal, with Herald Ventures, follows the management buyout of the company, led by Wheatly, in January 2009.
Wheatly originally founded the station in 1990 before it was sold to Guardian Media Group in 2002. GMG rebranded the station as Smooth FM in 2005.
In 2008 JazzFM was relaunched as a digital only brand in a three year licensing deal with the Local Radio Company.
The station, which has 463,000 listeners and a 0.2% audience share, has moved onto other digital platforms in recent years.
Last year saw it launch applications on the iPhone and Android platforms, and in November it announced it would become the first UK station to broadcast on the Europe-wide satellite radio platform, Ondas Media, when it launches in 2012.
