Clear Channel Accepts $18.7 Billion Takeover Bid

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NEW YORK- Channel Communications Agreed Thursday, January 12th, 2008 to an 18.7 Billion dollar buyout. A consortium that includes Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital won the bidding with a $37.60-a-share offer, beating out a rival consortium of Providence Equity Partners, the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company.

This deal marks on the of largest media buy-outs ever, surpassing the recent takeover of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications, which a private equity consortium bought for $12 billion earlier this year.

L. Lowry Mays, a former investment banker, founded Clear Channel almost unwittingly after acquiring a radio station in San Antonio when a client backed out of the deal. Mr. Mays, 71, who now serves as chairman, handed operational control to his sons, Mark P. Mays and Randall T. Mays, in 2004.

Clear Channel said in a separate statement Thursday that it would sell 448 of its 1,150 radio stations, as well as its 42-station television group. Overall, the properties up for sale generated less than 10 percent of Clear Channel’s revenue last year, and they are all in small to mid-sized markets, the company said.

So now....some of "The Bigs", personalities that have had "it made" for a great-long while now will start to sweat and really work hard for the money. It sure will be interesting to see the changing of the guards. To see what big names will end up at little time radio stations like former major personalities now at "The Breeze, 99-7 fm", Tuckerton, NJ.

What do you think?

 

[davideduardo]

NEW YORK- Channel Communications Agreed Thursday, January 12th, 2008 to an 18.7 Billion dollar buyout. A consortium that includes Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital won the bidding with a $37.60-a-share offer, beating out a rival consortium of Providence Equity Partners, the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company.

Wherever this report came from, it is inaccurage. The deal was announced last year, and was pending FCC and DoJ approval. The FCC approved this week, but the DoJ approval is still out.

Clear Channel said in a separate statement Thursday that it would sell 448 of its 1,150 radio stations, as well as its 42-station television group. Overall, the properties up for sale generated less than 10 percent of Clear Channel’s revenue last year, and they are all in small to mid-sized markets, the company said.

Those announcements were made last year. The TV deal is pending a closing, and the radio deal included many transactions, some of which have closed and one of which blew up and the stations are being marketed again. Old, old news. The article presents this as if it happened this week, not a year ago.

So now....some of "The Bigs", personalities that have had "it made" for a great-long while now will start to sweat and really work hard for the money. It sure will be interesting to see the changing of the guards. To see what big names will end up at little time radio stations like former major personalities now at "The Breeze, 99-7 fm", Tuckerton, NJ.

Any shock at the sale prospects has been gotton over long, long ago.

There is no changing of the guard. A new group of investors may end up owning CCU, but the management is going to be exactly the same.