Liberty Media Boosts DirecTV Stake to 48%
John Malone-Led Company Shifting Strategy to Convert Investments Into Operating Businesses
By Robert Marich -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/4/2008 4:28:00 PM
John Malone-led Liberty Media took an interim step toward making minority-owned DirecTV into a consolidated business someday.
Liberty raised its stake in satellite-TV platform DirecTV to 48% Thursday. In February, Liberty became a DirecTV shareholder when took a 41% stake from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. as part of a complex transaction.
Wall Street has been cool to Liberty’s past strategy of aggregating sliver minority investments in various cable-TV and media businesses. In 2006, Liberty shifted strategy to convert its investments to operating businesses.
According to DirecTV’s charter, a shareholder passing the 50% equity threshold is required to make a bid for all of DirecTV’s stock.
