WCSC bought by Alabama media company

Deal adds to Raycom's net of 42 TV stations in 18 states

Deal adds to Raycom's net of 42 TV stations in 18 states

The high bidder for South Carolina's oldest continually operating television station will be bearing a pro-Alabama agenda when it takes ownership next year.

MBA-types might call it synergy. Others might call it shilling. For David Bronner, it's his way of investing some $30 billion on behalf of Alabama's 314,000 working and retired state employees.

Bronner, who has a doctorate in finance and is a self-described government bureaucrat, has the title of CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama. But he's also a big cheerleader for the Heart of Dixie, where he has worked shrewdly to leverage some of the pension money he oversees to improve the economy and image.

One of his unorthodox ventures include a string of Alabama golf courses. His agency also has funded the development of resorts and hotels. The sometimes brash Bronner turned heads — and lost a bundle — by investing $240 million in RSA money for a 37 percent stake in US Airways a few years ago, partly to improve air service in Alabama.

Make no mistake: A certain top-rated local TV station with the call letters that stand for Wonderful Charleston South Carolina fits into the grand scheme of this one-man chamber of commerce.

So says Paul McTear, who would know.

McTear is CEO of Montgomery, Ala.-based Raycom Media, which agreed earlier this month to pay $583 million in cash for WCSC-TV Channel 5 in West Ashley and two other TV stations in Charlotte and Richmond, Va..

The deal will add to Raycom's stable of 42 TV stations in 18 states, including NBC affiliate WIS-TV in West Columbia and CBS affiliate WTOC-TV in Savannah. It also is building an NBC station for the Myrtle Beach market.

The Bronner connection? RSA funds are Raycom's primary source of capital.

"What we do is provide them with a good yield as well as good security," McTear said.

That's not all.

"In addition, we help advertise the state Alabama throughout all of our properties," McTear said. "It's a way to change the image over time of the state of Alabama, and it seems to be working."

In the short term, he said, Channel 5 viewers can expect at a minimum to see promotional spots for any number of well-known Alabama tourist haunts, such as the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail or Space Camp in Huntsville.

Synergy? Sure. Shilling? Definitely.

Smart? Sure sounds like it.

French bread

It appears that a two-way sale of Charleston's Hageyemer North America and its owner is imminent.

The industrial supplier's Dutch parent last week entered into exclusive buyout negotiations with French rival Rexel SA, which sweetened its bid to about $4.5 billion from $4.32 billion.

Hagemeyer NV said its goal was to finalize an agreement "under which Rexel would make an all cash offer ... and Hagemeyer's management and supervisory boards would recommend this revised proposed offer."

Rexel has said it only wants the European business. The West Ashley-based North American unit and other assets would be spun off in a breakup sale to another French company, Sonepar SA, which, conveniently, put Hagemeyer in play with its own unsolicited buyout offer.

Hagemeyer has grown rapidly since its $265 million acquisition of locally based Cameron & Barkley in 2000.

It later moved its North American head office to the Lowcountry from Atlanta. It now employs about 200 workers in the Charleston region.

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