A Texas state judge in San Antonio has granted Clear Channel Communications a temporary restraining order that essentially orders a syndicate of banks to go through with funding the company’s 26.7 billion bucks buyout by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital.
Clear Channel said Bexar County District Court Judge John D. Gabriel found in favor of the company’s claim that irreparable harm would result if the banks were not immediately enjoined from tortiously interfering with the merger agreement. The judge ordered that the banks, among other things, must not “interfere with or thwart consummation of the Merger Agreement” by 1) refusing to fund the Merger transaction, 2) insisting on terms that are inconsistent with the Commitment Letter, or 3) refusing to act in good faith in the drafting of definitive loan documents.
Clear Channel said, “We are pleased that the Banks and the Purchasers will now be able to move quickly to complete the loan documents and fund the Merger.” That’s the company’s view anyway. No word yet on what the banks intend to do.
