Now it gets interesting. The leveraged buy-out of Clear Channel, a drama still unfolding some 16 months after it was originally announced, is heading for the courts.

It is not the first major LBO to end in litigation. But the nature of this particular battle is very unusual. Clear Channel, together with its prospective private equity buyers, Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee, has gone after the banks that are supposed to finance the bulk of the deal. In a nutshell, Clear Channel and the sponsors claim the banks are derailing the deal by imposing shorter-term financing at the 11th-hour. For their part, the banks say they are honouring the obligations given in their original commitment letter.