Shareholders “are likely not to squabble about the sale price,” Forbes reports about this week’s Clear Channel deal.
It quotes James B. Boyle of C.L. King & Associates saying the lower offer should be justifiable given the sluggishness in the radio business sector. The buyout still requires shareholder approval.
The company and private-equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital agreed to a lower sale price of $17.9 billion, or $36 per share. The price was lower than had been finalized in 2006, thanks to subsequent changes in credit markets and declines in radio profits in general. The original price was $39.20.
The broadcaster expects the deal to close by the end of the third quarter, the Associated Press reported.
AP reported the agreement reduces the deal’s value to $17.9 billion from $19.5 billion.
Clear Channel and its buyers had sued a consortium of banks; this week’s agreement settles those lawsuits.
