The Merged Company
The two groups officially "tied the knot" in 26 May 2005, with GCap employees being given branded 'GCap' digital radios to commemorate the launch. For the first five months the group was run by Ralph Bernard (ex-GWR) as Executive Chairman, and David Mansfield (ex-Capital Radio Group) as CEO. David Mansfield stepped down on the afternoon of 19 September 2005 with Ralph Bernard taking over both roles. Within weeks of the merger rumours had abounded about disagreements between Bernard and Mansfield about the future direction of the company and this was compounded by a £184 m loss in the stock market capitalisation of the two combined entities by the time merger was sealed. Many market commentators felt that the savings brought about by cost cutting and elimination of duplicated departments across the company were far outweighed by large drops in audience and advertising revenue across the newly formed group. Over the following months, amid rumours of a GWR putsch and continuing dissatisfaction from the City, a stream of executives from the former Capital Radio Group side of the business left the company, including David Mansfield himself.
Read more about this topic: GCap Media, GCap
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