Business news with words deal+quarter+thomas. 2 news.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Clear Channel Communications Inc. doesn't expect the buyout of the company by an affiliate of a private equity group, led by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, to close by the end of the year. Clear Channel said it intends to extend the termination date of the agreement to June 12. The San Antonio media company is "actively" pursuing the satisfaction of the conditions to closing the deal. The remaining material conditions to be satisfied are obtaining requisite Federal Communications Commission consent and the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart Scott Rodino Act. Clear Channel said it is "confident" the conditions will be met. The company expects the deal to close during the first quarter of 2008. Clear Channel also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 19 cents a share on its common stock, payable Jan. 15 to shareholders of record Dec. 31.

De Beers sells one of its most famous mines RICHARD BURTON probably knew nothing of the small South African town of Cullinan when he bought yet another chunky diamond for Elizabeth Taylor in 1969. But the rock, still known as the Taylor Burton, was found there, together with a quarter of the world's diamonds over 400 carats. The Cullinan mine has also produced what is still the largest rough gem in the world--the whopping 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond--parts of which adorn England's Crown Jewels. Now the mine itself, like so many of the diamonds unearthed there, is about to change hands. On November 22nd De Beers, the diamond giant that has owned the mine since 1930, said it was selling it to a consortium led by Petra Diamonds, one of South Africa's emerging diamond producers, for 1 billion rand ($147m) in cash. Provided regulators approve the deal, the transfer should take place by the middle of next year. De Beers is selling because the mine is no longer profitable, despite attempts to turn it around. But Petra reckons the mine still has another 20 years of production in it and plans to extract at least 1m carats a year. The unexploited "Centenary Cut" deposit, which lies under the existing mine, could yield a lot more. This is good news for the mine's 1,000 or so employees and for the town, which has depended on the diamond business since Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered a prospect there in 1898 that contained kimberlite, a rock that can be rich in diamonds. The mine, established in 1903, is one of 30 or so kimberlite diamond mines in the world, and is believed to be still the world's second-most-valuable diamond resource. ...