Investors Worry Clear Channel Sale Is Off the Air

Optimism on Wall Street about Clear Channel's $19 billion equity buyout is fading and its share price is spiraling lower as the deal, more than a year in the making, appears to be unraveling—done in by regulatory issues, credit worries, and deteriorating industry conditions, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Clear Channel’s stock has plummeted 7.2%, cutting the company’s value by $2.3 billion in just two days. Jittery investors are hedging their bets in part because other high-profile private equity deals, including for SLM Corp., United Rentals, and Alliance Date Systems, recently have fallen through. Clear Channel and its buyers, Thomas H Lee Partners and Bain Capital, have remained mum, increasing investor jitters. (More Clear Channel stories.)