Liberty Media Corp. takes majority stake in Sirius XM
BY Wire reports
Saturday, January 19, 2013
1/19/13 at 5:15 AM
Liberty Media Corp., which has been trying to take over Sirius XM Radio Inc. for some time, has now bought enough shares in the satellite radio company to give it majority control.
Englewood, Colo.-based Liberty - run by cable magnate John Malone - disclosed in a Securities and Exchange filing Thursday that it bought 50 million common shares in the company. It now holds about 2 billion common shares and 1.29 billion convertible shares, giving it a stake of more than 50 percent.
Liberty saved Sirius from near-bankruptcy in 2009 by agreeing to lend it up to $530 million in exchange for preferred stock that amounted to a 40 percent stake. Since then Liberty has slowly acquired more stock.
New York-based Sirius has recovered from its tailspin and gained many customers, adding 2 million net subscribers during 2012 for a total of nearly 24 million.
Shares of Sirius have climbed roughly 60 percent since July.
Associated Images:
John Malone: His Liberty Media saved Sirius XM from near-bankruptcy in 2009 and now has taken control of the satellite radio broadcaster.
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