CBS WILL CONSIDER SELLING BILLBOARD UNIT — FOR $6 BILLION

Following a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that CBS would be willing to consider the sale of its billboard company, CBS Outdoor, if it received an offer of around $6 billion for it, a group of bankers has reportedly approached the media company and offered to find such a buyer. Bloomberg News, citing an unnamed person with knowledge of the situation, reported on Tuesday that CBS has “agreed to listen to proposals” but did not sign an agreement with the group and has no plans to distribute an offering book. The latest development follows apparent “trial balloon” comments by CBS Chief Financial Officer Joe Ianniello at a London investors conference last week, who remarked, “There’s definitely a lot of interest in Outdoor. … If something comes along that makes some sense, we’ll let everybody know.” Monday’s Wall Street Journal report indicated, however, that while CBS thinks Outdoor is worth $6 billion, some buyers think it’s worth closer to $4 billion.