Fools, put a fork in Clear Channel Communications' (NYSE:CCU) proposed private equity buyout. Unless a higher price for the company's shares is offered, I think it's done.
Let's review the bidding here. In November, a group led by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas Lee Partners LP, along with members of the company's founding Mays family, proposed to pay shareholders $37.60 a share -- or a total of nearly $19 billion -- for their Clear Channel shares. Almost immediately, Fidelity Investments, the world's biggest institutional investor and Clear Channel's largest shareholder, expressed consternation at the per-share offering level. Fidelity cited an analysis by advisory firm Glass Lewis that the nation's preeminent radio station operator really was worth $39.71-$41.40 a share.
The brouhaha didn't end there. Fidelity was joined by the company's second-largest shareholder, Highfields Capital Management -- together, the two money managers own nearly 15% of the total -- in protesting that the private equity offer wasn't enough. Then Institutional Shareholder Services, a respected New York-based proxy advisory firm, recently urged shareholders to vote "no" on April 19. That voting date is already a pushback from March 19, when the company's holders were originally scheduled to affirm or reject the deal.
Opponents of the buyout point to Clear Channel's 90% ownership of Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO). Outdoor's shares have increased about 20% in value since early last year, although it continues to trade at a relative discount to rival Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR). With the subsidiary's increased valuation, buyout opponents claim that the deal would result in insufficient value for the larger radio operation.
In the period leading up to the vote, Clear Channel Communications' CEO Mark Mays and his brother Randall, the company's president -- both sons of the company's founder, Lowry Mays -- have met with the company's largest investors in an effort to gain support for the buyout. They've been aided by their advisor, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), which has a sizable fee riding on the deal's completion.
But as I indicated above, everything suggests that Clear Channel Communications won't go private. Absent a sweetened offer, and once the "no" vote has been recorded in about two weeks, Fools would be well advised to monitor Clear Channel's progress carefully. Management will have a renewed incentive to seek increased shareholder value, from which Foolish investors seemingly could benefit.
We're clearly channeling related Foolishness:
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Fool contributor David Lee Smith does own shares in Goldman Sachs, but not in the other companies mentioned. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
