Clear Channel says its sale has been delayed until 2008

Clear Channel Communications Inc. said its $19.5 billion acquisition by Thomas H. Lee Partners Inc. and Bain Capital LLC will be delayed until next year because regulatory approval is unlikely by year-end.

Clear Channel, the nation's biggest radio station operator, owns seven stations in Utah. They are FM stations KODJ (94.1), KZHT (97.1), KJMY (99.5), KXRV (105.7) and KOSY (106.7), and AM stations KNRS (570) and KALL (700).

Clear Channel plans to extend the termination date for the transaction to June 12, and said the deal should close in the first quarter, according to a statement Tuesday.

The company said in November that it was possible the closing would be delayed until the first quarter of 2008. The buyout of San Antonio-based Clear Channel needs approval from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. The agencies are also deciding on the combination of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

In a separate deal, the Federal Communications Commission said last week that it has approved the $1.3 billion sale of 35 television stations owned by Clear Channel, including two in Utah, to Newport Television LLC, a private equity group, subject to certain conditions. Utah stations included in that sale are KTVX (Ch. 4) and Ogden-based KUCW (Ch. 30).