Clear Channel about to be sold for $18 Bil

Radio news from the USA

Postby radiofan » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:37 pm

Bids Are Expected for Radio Giant
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: November 13, 2006

NYTimes.com

Two consortiums of private equity firms are expected to submit final bids today for Clear Channel Communications, the nation?s largest radio company, worth about $18 billion, according to people involved in the auction.

Bidders were making last-minute adjustments to their offers last night, these people said, after the deadline was moved from Friday to noon today.

Offers are expected from a group that includes Providence Equity Partners, the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company; and another that includes Bain Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners and the Texas Pacific Group. Other private equity suitors, including the Apollo Group and the Carlyle Group, and Cerberus Capital Management and Oak Hill Capital Partners, had expressed interest in making bids but have since cooled to the auction.

The Providence-Blackstone-K.K.R. group had originally been tipped to win the contest, having held discussions with Clear Channel much earlier than the others. But the rival offer is expected to be ?competitive,? one person involved in the talks said. ?They are going to be very aggressive.?

Bid are expected in the ?mid-30?s? per share, people briefed on both bids said. In the last few weeks, Clear Channel?s shares have jumped in anticipation of a deal.

Clear Channel shares closed on Friday at $34.97. It is unclear how much of a premium the bidders will pay to that price, if any. The shares have declined, reflecting the steady defection of radio listeners to iPods, the Web and e-mail. Radio stations are also under threat from subscriber-based networks like XM and Sirius satellite radio.

Clear Channel was put on the market last month by the Mays family, which built the company into the country?s largest network of radio stations, including Z100 in New York and KIIS-FM in Los Angeles.

The company hired Goldman Sachs to conduct the auction.

New York Times story
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