Communicorp

Communicorp is a media holding company based in Ireland and owned wholly by the Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien.

History

Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. It launched its radio operations in Ireland that same year and entered the Czech Republic in 1992. It later added stations in Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Ukraine. Based in Dublin, the company now owns 42 radio stations in eight European countries, including Ireland's Newstalk, Today FM, Dublin's 98, SPIN 1038 and SPIN South West. O'Brien owns in its entirety Ireland's independent national radio (all stations apart from those run by state broadcaster RTÉ).

O'Brien's Communicorp was the highest bidder for Emap's Irish operations when that company decided to sell its radio stations, buying FM104, Highland Radio and Today FM on 14 July 2007. In October 2007, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) approved Communicorp's proposed takeover of Today FM and Highland Radio, but not FM104. The deal was completed by January 2008. Due to a Competition Authority decision, Communicorp was required to sell-on FM104, which it did (to UTV Media) immediately upon its acquisition. O'Brien offloaded Highland Radio in mid-2008.