Back On: Clear Channel's PE Buyout

Shares in Clear Channel Communications (CCU) are up more than 10% after the WSJ reported a buyout deal, in limbo for more than a year, looks like its going to happen after all.

The Journal says a settlement in at least one of the lawsuits filed over the Clear Channel deal appears "imminent," and the banks, which had recently balked at financing the deal, have aggreed to fund it at $36 per share.

That's less than the original $39.20 the deal was supposed to go for, but that deal was struck all the way back in late 2006 -- a lifetime ago in the credit markets. The banks that originally agreed to back the deal have tried squirm out, so the PE firms looking to take Clear Channel private, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, filed suit last month to force the banks to live up to the deal.

Now those banks--Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Deutsche Bank and Wachovia--are back on board. Under the renegotiated deal, the banks would put in $17.9 billion, down from $19.4 billion when the deal was initially struck.