Clear Channel Communications Inc., the owner of four radio stations in the Providence area, fell the most in more than five years in New York trading yesterday on concern the $19.5-billion buyout by private equity firms may not happen.

Clear Channel dropped $2.38, or 7 percent, to $31.42 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the most since October 2002. The stock is 20 percent below the buyers’ $39.20-a-share offer.

“The market is spooked,” David Miller, an analyst with SMH Capital in Los Angeles, said. “The uncertainty really surrounds shopping the debt to enough commercial banks.” He rates the stock “neutral” and doesn’t own it.

Credit-market turmoil has made it harder for private-equity groups such as Clear Channel buyers Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital LLC to arrange financing for their deals.