Premium channel Starz began trading as a separate publicly
traded entity Monday, opening on the NASDAQ Global Market System at $14.15 per
share and rising more than 10% in its market debut.
Starz' debut marks the end of a nearly
five-month journey to separate the premium channel's assets from parent Liberty
Media Corp., and transform the programmer's shares into an asset-backed
security.
Starz shares opened at $14.15 each, rising as high as $15.75
each (up 11.3% or $1.60 each) in early trading Monday. The stock closed at
$15.59 each on Jan. 14, up 9.8% or $1.39 per share.
Liberty said it completed the distribution of Starz shares
on Friday Jan. 11 after the market close - Liberty Media shareholders received
one share of Starz common stock for every Liberty share they held.
