Clear Channel lenders balk - Broadcasting World

Clear Channel lenders balk
December 18, 2009 - Posted By saint

Clear Channel's effort to lighten its debt load hit a snag yesterday when a group of bondholders claimed a plan to raise $750 million in debt without their permission effectively put the company in default.

Not long after Clear Channel last week announced its plan to raise the debt, a group of senior lenders sent the radio and billboard giant a letter alleging that the capital-raising effort violated the terms of their loan agreement.

While Clear Channel in a filing yesterday said the claims had no merit, it also said it may raise its offer.

It's unclear which of the company's lenders cried foul. However, the company and its private-equity owners have been at war with a group of lenders, led by The Blackstone Group's GSO C's GSO Capital, that have sought to take over the company as it has struggled to pay down its debt.

Clear Channel was bought in July 2008 by THL Partners and Bain Capital in a $23 billion leveraged deal, and has had trouble reducing its debt load thanks to a collapsing advertising market. Josh Kosman

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/clear_channel_lenders_balk_wjSgGi8xOH1LE9uqaMFi3K#ixzz0a45oXkRf