Air America Radio Sold For Only $4.25 Million

How much value do people put in a liberal radio network? Well, judging from the top bid garnered by Air America Radio during bankruptcy proceedings, the answer is clearly “Not very much!”

As reported by The Smoking Gun (emphasis mine throughout, h/t Drudge):

Bankrupt and about to lose Al Franken, its marquee star, Air America Radio is set to change hands for the bargain price of $4.25 million, according to new court documents. The sales figure was disclosed in a purchase agreement filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Forgive me, but there are a lot of houses in my small town that go for more than this. This is way too funny, and marvelously gets better:

According to the agreement, the deal between Air America's owner, Piquant LLC, and a firm controlled by Stephen L. Green, a New York realtor, calls for Green's firm to repay up to $3.25 million in loans provided to Air America after the liberal radio network filed for Chapter 11 protection last October (the company listed debts of $20.2 million). Green's company will also give Piquant LLC $500,000 and pay off up to $500,000 in network debts (the bulk of which, $349,000, is owed to the network's Manhattan landlord).

Outstanding. Absolutely outstanding. Yet, the best was yet to come:

Green's bid topped by more than $1.25 million the nearest offer received by Air America, according to a motion filed along with the purchase agreement. An excerpt from that motion can be found below. Court documents do not specify how many bids were received for the network, though a filing notes that "more than ten interested parties" signed nondisclosure agreements and were allowed to review confidential network financial and corporate records.

What this means, folks, is that the people who reviewed the books didn’t see much inherent value in this asset.

I’m verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.