As Deadline Nears, Confusion Clouds Clear Channel Buyout

AS DEADLINE NEARS, CONFUSION CLOUDS CLEAR CHANNEL BUYOUT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Matthew Karnitschnig matthew.karnitschnig@wsj.com]
Confusion surrounded the buyout of Clear Channel Communications yesterday amid escalating tensions between the private-equity companies behind the deal and the banks that have agreed to finance it. As a key deadline approached, it was unclear whether the deal would close, some 16 months after it was announced. These doubts prompted a nearly 9% drop in Clear Channel's shares to $32.60, below the $39.20 per share Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital LLC agreed to pay for the company in May, suggesting the market is betting the transaction won't close. If the deal isn't completed by the end of a so-called marketing period, which ends next week, Clear Channel could turn to the courts to force the private-equity concerns and the banks to finish the deal. People close to three of the five banks funding the deal, which include Citigroup Inc., Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group and Morgan Stanley, insisted the syndicate was prepared to go ahead with the deal. They blamed the private-equity companies for delaying the close. People close to the private-equity concerns assert it is the banks that are holding out.
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