Clear Channel’s off the market
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Clear Channel’s off the market
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: The company with the most radio stations in the country has a buyer. Two actually. Alisa Roth has more.
ALISA ROTH: Private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee will buy the firm for almost $19 billion. The new owners will also take on about $8 billion in debt.
Radio companies like Clear Channel have been suffering recently because of competition from other media outlets like satellite radio and the Internet.
Media analyst Frederick Moran says today’s announcement is a good omen for the business.
FREDERICK MORAN: To make such a dramatic and sizeable transaction shows that these companies believe that radio players like Clear Channel can continue to produce very strong and sustainable cash flow.
It’s still not apparent what’ll happen to Clear Channels billboard business.
Moran speculates that it will either be privatized along with its parent company or it will be spun off as its own separate business.
In New York, I’m Alisa Roth for Marketplace.
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