This is your Wednesday morning quick news alerts for May 9, 2012. On tap we have Liberty Media’s new role at Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) continues to be fired upon and Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR)’s new shareholder threat.
Liberty Media Corp (Capital) (NASDAQ:LMCA) on Tuesday, announced that they have signed an agreement that would give the firm the option to raise its stake into Sirius XM radio from 40% to 45.2%. Liberty Media has already confirmed about its forward purchase contract for 302 million shares at a price of $2.15, which comes out to $650 million. It is now only a matter of time before the media company takes over Sirius as they already control five of Sirius’s 13 seats for the board of directors. Executives at Liberty Media hope to have a 49.9% stake in the satellite radio firm by the end of the year. However, Liberty Media just reported an awful quarter in which revenue fell 55% in the first quarter while operating income fell 77%. Obviously, they have some seriously flaws that need to be worked out.
Next, we have Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK). Shareholder, Gilberta Norris, filed a “derivative” lawsuit in Oklahoma against Chesapeake. Norris’s reasoning is that the shareholder believes that the board of directors did not rightfully tell shareholders the true costs of the use of corporate jets. The shareholder said they wanted to see Chesapeake’s books to rightfully determine the true costs associated with the use of jets. This comes a little over a week after Chesapeake CEO was stripped of his chairman title after some personal stakes in oil wells which prompted an SEC investigation. Shares of Chesapeake are currently down 1.6% to $16.66.
Now to Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR) which was recently purchased by activist shareholder, Nelson Peltz. Mr. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management recently took a 7.05% stake in the firm which equates to $900 million, putting the activist shareholder among the top five within the firm. Nelson Peltz has made a number of successful deals over the years such as Schweppes spin off of Dr Pepper, Kraft’s split between grocery and snack businesses to name a few. It is unknown as to the intensions of Peltz’s 7.05% stake in the company but you can expect there will be some involvement with the board and the way they conduct business. Shares of Ingersoll are currently up on a tough day at $43.12, up 2%.
