Liberty Ditches Plans to Acquire SiriusXM Radio, Embraces New Tracking Stocks
Liberty Media Corp. said Thursday it will reclassify its common stock into two new tracking stocks and, due to the change in structure, it has abandoned its effort to acquire SiriusXM Radio, a company in which it already owns 53 percent.
The plan has the firm attributing some assets to a tracking stock called Liberty Broadband Group and another called Liberty Media Group.
Liberty Broadband will be the home of the company's interests in Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and TruePosition, a digital safety and security firm. Liberty Media will contain all of the other assets, including the majority interest in SiriusXM.
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'This is another step in Liberty's process of offering investors greater choice, transparency and focus,' said Liberty president and CEO Greg Maffei. 'We expect to complete the creation of the new tracking stocks by the third quarter. In light of the tracking stock distribution, our offer for Sirius XM is no longer applicable.'
The plan calls for current shareholders to receive one share of Liberty Media tracking stock and four shares of Liberty broadband for each share of Liberty Series A and Series B common stock they hold.
Previously, Liberty had intended on wholly absorbing SiriusXM for $3.68 per share and some shareholders of the satellite radio firm deemed the offer too low. On Thursday, shares of SiriusXM fell 1 percent to $3.37.
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