Clear Channel just talked someone into lending them $575 million. Clear Channel has somewhere around $20 billion in debt from winning the merger orgy set off in 1996.
Clear Channel is more than radio stations – the bulk of their tangible assets are in billboards in the United States and bus shelters in Europe.
At least one industry defender points to the ease of Clear Channel raising money that the debt is not a problem. Orly? This new debt carries a rate of 11.25%
Another industry critic is spinning a scenario that Bob Pittman and his friends are preparing to strip the company of its assets before the debt caves in.
We’ll see who turns out to be right.