As expected, Liberty Media said Tuesday that it has agreed
to purchase 26.9 million shares of common stock and 1.1 million warrants from
three Charter Communications shareholders for $2.617 billion, giving the
Denver-based media giant the largest individual stake in the mid-market MSO.
Liberty will purchase the stakes from Apollo Management,
Oaktree Capital Management and Crestview Partners, for a price of about $95.50
per share. As a result, Liberty will become Charter's largest individual
shareholder with 27.3% of its outstanding shares. As part of the agreement,
Liberty also received the right to elect four members of Charter's 11-member
board of directors and has agreed not to raise its stake above 35% before
January 2016 or above 39.99% hereafter.
Liberty said it would fund the deal through a combination of
cash on hand and new loan arrangements. The Wall Street Journal first
reported the two were considering a transaction in a
report Monday.
Click
here to read the full story at Multichannel News.
