After a happy Wall Street wedding, comes the messy divorce. And as usual, it is all in court papers.

The private equity buyers have alleged that the banks that committed to finance their $20 billion buyout of Clear Channel tried threatening, stalling and even begging to stop the deal from going forward.

Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners claim the banks, which include the likes of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, asked the “purchasers with ‘hat in hand’ to change the terms of their commitment,” according to a court document.

Other alleged tactics: threatening to back out of another, unrelated loan to the purchasers; stalling to buy time to delay the transaction; and asking for unreasonable terms.

The credit markets worsened soon after the banks gave their final commitment letter in May last year to finance the deal, according to the document. The banks allegedly determined that the financing exposed them to potential losses that exceeded their fees.

The banks also include Credit Suisse Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank and Wachovia.

On Friday, a New York judge dismissed counterclaims by the banks against Clear Channel.

The private equity buyers sued the banks in New York and Texas, seeking to force them to fund the deal. Clear Channel joined them in the Texas suit, but was not a plaintiff in the New York case.

One wonders now: can they ever be friends again?

(Photo credit: Reuters)