NATION

NATION

Buyout approved

SAN ANTONIO — It took just about three weeks for the nation’s biggest radio station operator, Clear Channel Communications Inc., to accept a buyout offer after announcing last fall that it was considering “strategic alternatives.”

It took another 10 months for shareholders to finally approve the deal. On Tuesday they gave the OK to a $19.5 billion buyout offer from a private equity group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital Partners LLC.

Vonage to pay damages

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Internet telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. was ordered in federal court Tuesday to pay Sprint Nextel $69.5 million in damages for infringing on six telecommunications patents owned by competitor Sprint Nextel Corp.

Vonage shares plunged 66 cents, or more than 33 percent, to close at $1.30. A jury in Virginia determined in March that Vonage had violated three Verizon patents in building its Internet phone system. The jury awarded Verizon $58 million in damages plus 5.5 percent royalties on future revenues.

Associated Press