Bulletin from Radio Ink
Shareholders Approve Clear Channel Buyout
 SAN ANTONIO -- September 25, 2007: Clear Channel Communications' long-pending buyout by a private equity group led by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners has been approved by shareholders at a special meeting at company headquarters in San Antonio.
Clear Channel said its preliminary tabulations found that approximately 98 percent of the shares voted were cast in favor of the transaction.
CC shareholders will receive $39.20 per share in cash, putting the value of the deal at about $19.5 billion. Unaffiliated shareholders were offered the chance to exchange some or all of their shares of Clear Channel common stock for shares of Class A common stock in the merged company. Shareholders will receive an additional amount per share if the deal closes after December 31.
"We are pleased with the outcome of today's vote," said Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays. "On behalf of Clear Channel's board of directors, I want to thank our shareholders and hard-working employees for their support throughout this process. We look forward to completing this transaction with T.H. Lee and Bain as quickly as possible."
Though the deal is still subject to regulatory approval, the vote puts an end to a contentious merger process that began back in November 2006, when Clear Channel announced that it had accepted an offer of $37.60 per share from a private-equity group led T.H. Lee and Bain Capital. Shareholders protested that the price was too low and an influential proxy-advisory firm advised shareholders to reject the deal.
The shareholder vote was ultimately delayed four times, as T.H. Lee and Bain Capital raised their bid twice, first to $39 and again, in May, to the $39.20-per-share offer that shareholders approved Tuesday.
Last edited on Tue Sep 25th, 2007 04:33 pm by artmorris
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