Clear Channel terms reflect tight credit, ad slump

The lower offer should be easily justifiable to shareholders given the "even more sluggish" radio sector, which has seen 11 straight months of revenue declines, Boyle said in a note to investors.

Plus, Clear Channel and its investors dearly wanted to avoid suffering the fate of Cumulus Media Inc., a fellow radio broadcaster whose stock plunged 24 percent on Monday after its own buyout deal fell apart.

"That is a recent, very brusque reminder to potential holdouts hoping for a slightly higher price what could happen to (Clear Channel's) share price if the deal is derailed," Boyle said. Should Clear Channel's deal have blown up, a similar decline in its own stock would bring it down to $26.10, Boyle noted.

Various parties in the Clear Channel case agreed to make sacrifices in order to assure a solid deal that had a high likelihood of passing. The company agreed to take a lower price, lenders agreed to complete financing agreements and put money in escrow ahead of time, and the buyers agreed to slightly higher lending rates.

Specific lending terms weren't disclosed, but the company said in its filing that additional information about the lending agreements would be filed later with the Securities and Exchange Commission.