Liberty Media deals for DirecTV

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2006 | by David Lieberman

NEW YORK -- Liberty Media Chairman John Malone, the executive once known as the "King of Cable," is back -- this time with a plan that would make him the most powerful man in satellite television. And maybe more. On Friday -- three years, to the day, after News Corp. took control of DirecTV -- CEO Rupert Murdoch announced an agreement to turn over his controlling 38.5% interest in the No.

1 satellite company, as well as three regional sports networks and $550 million in cash, to Liberty in exchange for its 16.3% stake in News Corp. The deal, which values Liberty's shares at about $11 billion, ends a potential threat to Murdoch's control of News Corp. that Malone posed after he acquired his voting shares two years ago. Executives expect the deal to close in the middle of 2007...