News Corp., Liberty Media Near Swap Deal
Posted on: Thursday, 7 December 2006, 12:00 CST
Liberty Media Corp. is preparing to give its 19-percent voting stake in News Corp. back to the U.S. media giant in exchange for cash and stock.
Under terms of a deal being discussed, News Corp. would give its 38.6 percent interest in DirecTV Group Inc. to Liberty, along with cash and a few smaller News Corp. assets, in exchange for Liberty's $11 billion stake in the New York company. The deal is envisioned as a tax-free transaction to Liberty, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday.
Executives of both companies have been meeting for weeks exploring a swap, but talks have shown marked progress in recent days. The main issue currently is the value of the recently surging DirecTV shares.
Peter Chernin, president and chief operating of News Corp., said this week he was optimistic about doing a swap, and Greg Maffei, his Liberty counterpart, said Wednesday that Chernin spoke for him, too.
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, 75, is said to want to ensure his family's control of the company he founded in Australia decades ago.
For Liberty Chairman John Malone, this kind of a deal would return his satellite broadcaster to a powerful position in the media sector.
Source: United Press International
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