Liberty Media Group chairman John Malone has resigned his seat on the board
of directors of AT&T Corp. one month early, just days after AT&T
received an unsolicited $58 billion offer for its broadband division from
Comcast Corp.
Malone was set to step down from the AT&T board Aug. 10, coinciding with
the planned spinoff of Liberty, which is currently a tracking stock of
AT&T.
In a statement, AT&T chairman C. Michael Armstrong said he understood
Malone's decision, especially since Malone is not participating in discussions
regarding Comcast's bid for AT&T Broadband. The AT&T board of directors
was expected to vote on whether to continue talks with Comcast in a board
meeting Tuesday.
Comcast offered to purchase AT&T Broadband for 1.0525 billion shares of
Comcast stock, valued at $41.4 billion, and the assumption of $13.5 billion in
AT&T Broadband debt.
According to published reports, Comcast is expected to increase the offer,
possibly by offering more shares to purchase AT&T Broadband's 26 percent
interest in Time Warner Entertainment and its 30 percent stake in Cablevision
Systems Corp. Analysts have valued those two stakes at between $10 billion and
$20 billion.
Armstrong, in a prepared statement, praised Malone's tenure.
'John Malone is a unique figure in American business history, and we have
been fortunate to have the benefit of his insight and vision,' he said.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Malone left a parting shot in
his resignation letter.
'As an AT&T shareholder, I find the Comcast offer insufficient,' Malone
wrote, according to a source who has seen the resignation letter. 'The
tax-efficient monetization of TWE and Cablevision should be part of any Comcast
transaction.'
