Clear Channel Accepts $19 Billion Bid

Offer Is 4 Percent Higher Than Previous Bid; Could Sway Opposition To Buyout By Shareholders

(AP)  Clear Channel Communications Inc. agreed Wednesday to a private equity group's $19.35 billion offer — almost 4 percent higher than the group's previous bid — that could help sway opposition to the buyout by shareholders.

The offer of $39 per share plus the assumption of $8 billion in debt raises the price for the billboard and radio company by about $690 million. It came the day before a scheduled vote on a lower offer that was facing strong resistance from several large shareholders.

The new offer now faces a shareholder vote May 8.

Some of the company's largest shareholders, including Fidelity Management & Research, Highfields Capital Management LP and the California Public Employees Retirement System, said they would vote against the original offer of $37.60 per share. The naysaying shareholders held a large enough stake that many believed the deal would fail at that price.

The equity group, led by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, has insisted for months that the initial offer was the best they would make, but as the number of shareholders signaling they would oppose the deal grew, the equity partners made a higher offer.