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Carey to Stay on As CEO
Liberty Media said this morning it entered into an agreement with News Corp. to exchange Liberty's 16.3 percent stake in News Corp. for the media giant's 38.5-percent stake in DIRECTV.
Liberty also picked up regional sports networks controlled by News Corp. in Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle and cash through the much-anticipated deal.
Other news tidbits coming from the announcement ... Liberty said it is expected Chase Carey - a long-time executive with the satellite TV company and News Corp. - will continue to serve as DIRECTV's president and CEO. Liberty will appoint directors to fill board seats currently held by News Corp. representatives.
The boards of News Corp. and Liberty unanimously approved the transaction.
Liberty said the deal is expected to close in mid-2007. The transaction is subject to regulatory and News Corp. shareholder approvals and the receipt of a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to that tax ruling, it's expected the Federal Communications Commission will scrutinize the deal.
This is just the latest sale involving DIRECTV. In 2002, General Motors, which at the time controlled DIRECTV parent Hughes Electronics, attempted to sell the satellite business to EchoStar, but the deal ran afoul with regulators worried about a combination of the nation's two biggest DBS platforms. DIRECTV was then sold to News Corp. in late 2003.
www.SkyReport.com - used with permission
(Ed. Note: Posted in General Discussion for the benefit of DBSTalk readers who don't usually visit the D* forums.)
Liberty Media said this morning it entered into an agreement with News Corp. to exchange Liberty's 16.3 percent stake in News Corp. for the media giant's 38.5-percent stake in DIRECTV.
Liberty also picked up regional sports networks controlled by News Corp. in Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle and cash through the much-anticipated deal.
Other news tidbits coming from the announcement ... Liberty said it is expected Chase Carey - a long-time executive with the satellite TV company and News Corp. - will continue to serve as DIRECTV's president and CEO. Liberty will appoint directors to fill board seats currently held by News Corp. representatives.
The boards of News Corp. and Liberty unanimously approved the transaction.
Liberty said the deal is expected to close in mid-2007. The transaction is subject to regulatory and News Corp. shareholder approvals and the receipt of a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to that tax ruling, it's expected the Federal Communications Commission will scrutinize the deal.
This is just the latest sale involving DIRECTV. In 2002, General Motors, which at the time controlled DIRECTV parent Hughes Electronics, attempted to sell the satellite business to EchoStar, but the deal ran afoul with regulators worried about a combination of the nation's two biggest DBS platforms. DIRECTV was then sold to News Corp. in late 2003.
www.SkyReport.com - used with permission
(Ed. Note: Posted in General Discussion for the benefit of DBSTalk readers who don't usually visit the D* forums.)
