By Mark McSherry
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Any takeover deal for Clear Channel Communications Inc.(CCU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the No. 1 U.S. radio company, would lift the volume of 2006 global mergers and acquisitions to an all-time high, according to research firm Dealogic.
Announced global mergers so far in 2006 are running only $12.35 billion below the 2000 record of $3.33 trillion, Dealogic said, so any deal or combination of transactions worth more than $12.35 billion would see M&A reach a new annual record.
Clear Channel has a current stockmarket value of roughly $17 billion. The radio company was on Tuesday evaluating takeover proposals from private equity firms, sources familiar with the situation said.
Dennis Hersch, global chairman of M&A at JP Morgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday hailed the role of private equity firms in the M&A boom.
At the Reuters Investment Banking Summit in New York, Hersch said: "Often the private equity interest (to buy companies for sale) far exceeds the strategic interest.
"That's attributable to the fact that, over the last two years, private equity has raised close to $300 billion.
"When you lever that four times or five times, you have well over $1 trillion of buying power -- and most of that is still unspent."
High-yield bond investors have been snapping up new debt issues at a record pace this year, helping private equity firms finance some of the largest buyouts in history.
In one of the biggest junk bond offerings ever, hospital operator HCA Inc. HCA.N last week sold $5.7 billion of notes for its leveraged buyout.
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Paper | Aug 20 - 21, 2008 | Manufacturing |
| Japan Investment | Jul 01 - 2, 2008 | Country Summits |
| Global Real Estate | Jun 23 - 25, 2008 | Real Estate |
| Consumer and Retail | Jun 16 - 18, 2008 | Consumer Retail |
| Investment Outlook | Jun 09 - 12, 2008 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
