News Corp. Is Poised To Regain Liberty's Stake

NEWS CORP IS POISED TO REGAIN LIBERTY'S STAKE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin julia.angwin@wsj.com]
A two-year standoff between News Corp. and its second-biggest shareholder, Liberty Media Corp., is nearing an end in a deal that will return Liberty to a powerful position in the media sector and solidify News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch's control of his company. Under an agreement, which could be finalized in the next few weeks, News Corp. will buy Liberty's $11 billion stake in the media giant in exchange for News Corp's 38.6% stake in satellite-TV firm DirecTV Group Inc., some cash and some smaller News Corp. assets. Selling the DirecTV stake would be a turnabout for Mr. Murdoch, who spent years pursuing control of the satellite-TV firm. But in the past year or so, DirecTV's subscriber growth has slowed markedly, as competition from cable operators has intensified. Cable companies are benefiting from their ability to offer a bundle of telephone, high-speed Internet and video. Satellite can't easily offer high-speed Internet.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116544470590142710.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
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