Liberty Media Announces Deals With Sirius XM Radio And Comcast

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Shares of Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) controlled SiriusXM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) gained yesterday after the former announced that it will purchase $2 billion under its share repurchase program, which will include a buyback of $500 million worth of Liberty stake. John Malone’s Liberty Media will have a 52 percent stake in Sirius XM now, according to a report from Deadline.Liberty Media Announces Deals With Sirius XM Radio And Comcast

Liberty will acquire Sirius XM shares in three installments; $130 million next month, $270 million in January 2014 and $100 million in April 2014.

Liberty media also ends contract with Comcast

Additionally, Liberty Media also announced that it concluded a transaction under which it recovered 6.3 million of its shares held by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) for almost a decade. The transaction also ends at least two decades of a revenue-sharing agreement concerning business news network CNBC.

In exchange for its shares, Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) acquired Leisure Arts Inc for $417 million in cash and Liberty’s rights to a revenue sharing deal with CNBC.

Malone style complications

The media holding company also talked about arranging a private offering of about $500 million in cash convertible senior notes, which will be due in 2023. The company announced that conversion of the notes will be paid in cash.

The media company has signaled that these transactions can bring down the trading price of its shares. Liberty Interactive, which is also controlled by Malone, announced that it will create tracking stock for QVC and give away its 57 percent voting stake in TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor Holdings will be the name given to the new company. These deals are tax free and involve a lot of complications, a trait which has become synonymous with deals involving Malone. Investors were provided more detailed information about these transactions by executives from Liberty, Sirius XM and Charter Communications.

Analysts are closely tracking Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA)’s stock as it can prove an important catalyst to bring together the cable industry. At present, Liberty has a 30 percent stake in cable operator Charter Communications, which is looking forward to entering a deal with Time Warner Cable.

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