Clear Channel’s bankers have asked a New York judge to dismiss a lawsuit that has been brought by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee, claiming that they were not obliged to provide financing for a $19bn buy-out of the media group because the parties had not yet finalised the terms of a funding agreement.

The banks, led by Citigroup, also tried to refute the central contention by Bain, THL and Clear Channel that they had reneged on the deal in order to avoid more than $3bn in losses.