Clear Channel Spins Off Concert Division

Clear Channel Communications has announced it will spin off its entire live entertainment division, five years after it was created with the $4.5 billion purchase of SFX.

Clear Channel Entertainment will be a separate, publicly traded company with its own board of directors, the members of which will not overlap with CCC’s board of directors. CCC will not retain any ownership interest in CCE.

The company also announced that CCE CEO Brian Becker will leave his post and pursue a new joint venture company “to pursue entertainment content opportunities through acquisition and development.” CCC CFO Randall Mays will serve as interim CEO during the transition.

CCC also announced it would sell approximately 10 percent of its Clear Channel Outdoor division in an initial public offering. The company will give shareholders a $3 per share dividend and a 50 percent increase in the company’s recurring quarterly dividend.

The news came as the company reported a 59 percent drop in earnings in the first quarter.