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Friday, November 20, 
9:03 pm

Clear Channel, PE firms poised to sue lenders over buyout

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clearchannel%2C2.gifClear Channel Communications Inc., Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP plan to sue Citibank and other lenders in a bid to force the banks to fund Bain and TH Lee's $25 billion take-private of the radio and billboard company, a knowledgeable source has told The Deal.

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Clear Channel plans to file suit in state court in Texas for tortious interference with its buyout agreement. The buyers will sue separately to enforce the debt commitments given by the banks. Those agreements are governed by New York law, while the buyout agreement was struck under Texas law and the parties agreed that any disputes would be litigated there.

The other members of the lending syndicate are Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Credit Suisse Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

The debt marketing period for the buyout ended Tuesday, and the buyout should have closed immediately after that. But the bank syndicate had balked at funding the buyout because it would be forced to book several billion dollars in write-downs because the debt will now have to be sold at a discount.

Clear Channel shares plunged Tuesday when The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that the buyers were trying to pull out of the deal.

Spokesmen for the parties either were unavailable or declined to comment.

Additional coverage will come later in The Daily Deal and on TheDeal.com. - Scott Stuart

See TheDeal.com story about the Clear Channel lawsuit
See press release from Clear Channel buyout sponsors (pdf)
See the Texas court complaint filing against the banks (pdf)
See the New York court complaint filing against the banks (pdf)
See the New York court complaint filing against Deutsche Bank (pdf)
See Dealwatch: Clear Channel





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