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Jeff Arensdorf thought his company was one of the few Wild West World investors that got paid. At least he thought that until late last week, when attorneys hit Village Charters with the largest preference case to date in Wild West World's bankruptcy. The bankruptcy estate wants the $100,000 that Village Charters got back from longtime customer Thomas Etheredge in April. Attorneys claim Etheredge repaid Arensdorf's company April 9 and April 23 for a January loan. They say that is on or within the time frame established by law for a preference filing, which allows the bankruptcy estate to reclaim that money. "Now, I was pretty sure he'd get that park open," Arensdorf said. "After that, you know, who could be sure? So I set up the loan as a 60-day deal. Felt pretty good about it. We'd had a good four-year relationship with Thomas."

Thomas Hicks did it. Nelson Peltz is doing it. And on Friday, Ronald O. Perelman, the billionaire financier whose firm owns Revlon, joined the parade. We are talking about Spacs, or special-purpose acquisition companies, whose sole purpose in life is to make a deal. The popularity of these vehicles, also known as blank-check companies, has exploded [...]

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.

Thomas FisherJones Lang LaSalle HotelsAge: 36Years on the job: 12Major clients: Blackstone Group L.P., JER Partners, Westmont Hospitality Group Industry survival tip: "Relationships and repeat business are important, so after every deal we issue a client survey asking our clients to rate us on ...

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. ...

Providence Equity Partners Inc. may back out of a $1.2 billion agreement to acquire Clear Channel Communications' 56 television stations. Providence is the financial backer for Newport Television, a company formed by former Wichita television executive Sandy DiPasquale. Newport is operating out of Wichita offices pending its planned December move to Kansas City. DiPasquale is recuperating from an illness and could not be reached for comment Tuesday. His son, Michael, didn't return calls to the Wichita office. Other company officials declined comment. Providence may not close the deal on the terms agreed upon in April, San Antonio-based Clear Channel said Nov. 9 in a regulatory filing. The sale outcome doesn't threaten Clear Channel's pending $19.5 billion takeover by Thomas H. Lee Partners Inc. and Bain Capital LLC, the company said.

A last-ditch attempt to save Wild West World has begun, with real estate agents mounting a final bid to find an amusement park operator to buy the failed theme park's buildings and land. Grant and Bradley Tidemann, commercial agents with J.P. Weigand in Wichita who represent the bankruptcy estate, think there's a park operator out there willing to bring new rides to Park City and try it again. Any deal wouldn't include the collection of largely used rides park founder Thomas Etheredge assembled, with most already earmarked for sale. Etheredge closed Wild West World on July 9, and the park filed for bankruptcy protection the same day. "The first step is to sell the land for its highest and best use, which we think is an amusement park," Bradley Tidemann said.

Thomas Etheredge's 2006 business losses ultimately broke a logjam and led to Wednesday's closing on the sale of the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper. New owners Greg and JW Johnson assumed ownership Wednesday and will hit the ground running: R.W. Hampton, the 2006 Academy of Western Artists male vocalist of the year, will headline opening weekend Nov. 16 and 17. The deal had been stalled for more than two months by $325,000 in state and federal income tax liens filed against former owners Thomas and Cheryl Etheredge, specifically for unpaid 2005 income taxes. Greg Johnson said Wednesday that he revitalized the talks by paying for the completion of Etheredge's 2005 and 2006 income taxes. And other sources close to the case confirmed that Etheredge's 2006 business losses -- despite annual profits in excess of $1 million at the Prairie Rose, according to bankruptcy court documents -- were substantial enough to, as Johnson put it, "get the IRS off our backs."

Westwind Partners, a five-year-old Toronto investment bank focused on the mining and energy sectors, is being taken over by Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. of San Francisco in a deal valued at $146.7 million (U.S.).

The Supreme Court reconvenes Monday for its annual term, but the justices could be upstaged by Clarence Thomas's long-anticipated autobiography. In the courtroom, the author and his colleagues will deal with less-sensational matters.