Tom Young
Asia editor
It's rare for a private equity buyer and its target to team up and litigate on the same side. But in the US, radio company Clear Channel and its private equity acquirers Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee (THL) are doing just that. The New York suit centres on the financing banks reneging on lending terms. As the company's stock has been trading below the offer price due to the turmoil in the credit markets, the private equity firms and Clear Channel accuse the banks of shying away from providing funding now that market conditions have deteriorated. After agreeing to provide credit that would mature in six to eight years, the banks now insist on a three-year maturity.
At the time of going to press, both sides had agreed on a temporary order that bars the lenders from reneging on the terms before the June trial,...