IN BRIEF

Clear Channel rethinks rejection of offer

Clear Channel Communications, the largest U.S. radio broadcaster, is reconsidering its rejection of a $19.5 billion bid by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP after investors expressed interest in the offer.

Bain and Thomas H. Lee last week raised their bid to $39.20 a share from $39, the second increase, and agreed to give investors the option of taking cash and stock. San Antonio-based Clear Channel delayed tomorrow’s shareholder meeting until May 22 to give investors time to assess the bid.

Clear Channel rejected the sweetened offer last week. The company changed course Monday after some of its largest shareholders told directors they wanted the chance to consider it.

In Las Vegas, Clear Channel operates radio stations KPLV-FM (93.1), KSNE-FM (106.5), KWID-FM (101.9) and KWNR-FM (95.5). The company also operates Clear Channel Outdoor, an outdoor advertising company.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates decline in Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday’s auction, with the rate on three-month bills dropping to the lowest point in nearly a year.

The Treasury Department auctioned $13 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.760 percent, down from 4.785 percent last week, and $12 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 4.815 percent, down from 4.82 percent last week.

Titanium Metals posts income, revenue rise

Titanium Metals Corp., a Dallas-based titanium maker operating a plant in Henderson, said net income rose 23 percent compared with a year earlier.

In a statement, the company said net income was $75 million, or 41 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, up from net income of $56.8 million, or 32 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 19.1 percent to $341.7 million from $286.9 million.

Regulators reviewing need for proposal sites

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, trying to resolve differences over the rights of shareholders to steer corporate policy, is reviewing whether companies should set up Web sites for investors to communicate with each other about pending proposals.

The SEC has asked BroadRidge Financial Solutions to evaluate whether it would be “feasible to create a secure chat room” to serve as an alternative to traditional corporate ballots, BroadRidge Chief Executive Officer Richard Daley said during a panel discussion at SEC headquarters in Washington. Shareholders would make nonbinding proposals on the Web sites that other investors could vote to adopt, he said.

The SEC is conducting a broad review of shareholder voting rights after a federal court rejected the agency’s longstanding policy of letting companies keep proposals off corporate ballots that pertained to director elections.

Icahn bid for Motorola board seat seems lost

Billionaire financier Carl Icahn was not elected to Motorola’s board of directors, according to preliminary results released Monday night by the cell phone maker.

Final results from Monday evening’s shareholder vote could takes weeks to tabulate, the company said in a statement.

Speaking at the cell phone maker’s meeting in downtown Chicago, Icahn acknowledged a likely defeat in a fierce proxy fight, saying he didn’t think he’d acquired enough support from shareholders to be elected to Motorola’s board of directors.

“I think it’ll be tough for me to win,” Icahn said before the tally was released. “I congratulate them if they win. And I really hope they can produce what they say they will.”

CEO Ed Zander said in a statement after the vote that he “valued” Icahn’s input and that the beleaguered company would continue working to fix its finances.

NEW YORK

Bond prices mostly flat during news dearth

U.S. Treasury prices ended flat or slightly up on Monday, a day free of U.S. economic news.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was up 63 cents per $1,000 in face value, or 0.06 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Friday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 4.63 percent from 4.64 percent.

The 30-year bond rose 0.31 points. Its yield fell to 4.79 percent from 4.81 percent.