Clear Channel clinches victory in More battle

THE EXTRAORDINARY bid battle for More, the outdoor advertising group, finally ended last night when Clear Channel, the US media giant, announced that it had control of more than half of More's shares.

Clear Channel yesterday bought 6.6m More shares on the stock market, taking its holding to more than 19m. Together with the acceptances it has already received, Clear Channel now holds 51.3 per cent of the shares and plans to declare its 1110p a share offer unconditional as soon as possible.

Decaux, the French group whose hopes of mounting a counter-bid for More were dashed when its offer was referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, conceded defeat.

"Obviously we're disappointed that we didn't get the result we wanted," a spokesman for the company said. "But we remain the largest global player in this business and will seek to retain that position."

More shares fell 3p to 1105p.