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Liberty Pushes Ahead With Split-Off of Entertainment
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Late Friday, Liberty Media said its board of directors authorized a plan to distribute to holders of the Liberty Entertainment group tracking stock shares of a subsidiary that will hold a majority of the businesses, assets and liabilities currently attributed to the Entertainment unit, best known for its stake in DIRECTV.
The subsidiary, which would become a separate public company, would be called Liberty Entertainment. The businesses, assets and liabilities not included in the company would continue to be attributed to the Liberty Entertainment group tracking stock.
If the transaction is completed as contemplated, Liberty Entertainment will contain the 52 percent stake in DIRECTV, 50 percent of GSN, 100 percent of FUN Technologies and all of Liberty Sports Holdings, which holds three regional sports networks. Also, Liberty Entertainment will hold about $2 billion in debt incurred to acquire 78.3 million DIRECTV shares in April.
Meanwhile, the remaining tracking stock will consist of Starz Entertainment, 37 percent of WildBlue and an undetermined amount of cash.
"We continue to work on a plan to split-off Entertainment," said Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty. "We believe a new asset-backed security will reduce the discount from fair value in our stock, thereby making it a more attractive currency, and will permit us to better pursue our strategic objectives."
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Late Friday, Liberty Media said its board of directors authorized a plan to distribute to holders of the Liberty Entertainment group tracking stock shares of a subsidiary that will hold a majority of the businesses, assets and liabilities currently attributed to the Entertainment unit, best known for its stake in DIRECTV.
The subsidiary, which would become a separate public company, would be called Liberty Entertainment. The businesses, assets and liabilities not included in the company would continue to be attributed to the Liberty Entertainment group tracking stock.
If the transaction is completed as contemplated, Liberty Entertainment will contain the 52 percent stake in DIRECTV, 50 percent of GSN, 100 percent of FUN Technologies and all of Liberty Sports Holdings, which holds three regional sports networks. Also, Liberty Entertainment will hold about $2 billion in debt incurred to acquire 78.3 million DIRECTV shares in April.
Meanwhile, the remaining tracking stock will consist of Starz Entertainment, 37 percent of WildBlue and an undetermined amount of cash.
"We continue to work on a plan to split-off Entertainment," said Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty. "We believe a new asset-backed security will reduce the discount from fair value in our stock, thereby making it a more attractive currency, and will permit us to better pursue our strategic objectives."
