Main Line deal: Insurer Lincoln sells radio stations to Entercom for $105M

Entercom Communications Corp., Bala Cynwyd, says it has agreed to pay $105 million for 15 radio stations in the Atlanta, Denver, Miami and San Diego areas, to Lincoln Financial Group, the Radnor-based insurance and investments company.

The deal will boost Entercom's network to more than 100 stations in 23 markets, including Boston, San Francisco and Denver, but not its home base in Philadelphia. Entercom will pay $77.5 million in cash and $27.5 million in preferred stock and will borrow under its existing $50 million credit limit if needed, the company said.

The sale should boost shareholder earnings next year without much increasing the company's debt, Entercom chief executive David J. Field said in a statement. Lincoln had acquired the stations in its 2006 purchase of the former Jefferson Pilot Corp. (Lincoln sold Jeff's TV stations in 2008). Unloading the stations allows Lincoln "to focus on its strategy to grow its core lines of business," said Lincoln chief executive Dennis R. Glass in the statement.