Liberty Media Corp gained majority control over Sirius XM Radio Inc. with the purchase of 50 million shares in the company.
Reports suggest Liberty Media, after the purchase, owns 1.99 billion common shares and 1.29 billion convertible shares.
In 2009, Liberty Media controlled by John Malone, gained 40 percent stake in the satellite radio broadcaster. This was a part of a deal in which Liberty loaned Sirius $530 million to help avoid bankruptcy. As per the company filing, made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Liberty bought another 50 million shares of Sirius stock at an average price of $3.15 per share, reported Reuters. The company now holds nearly 50.5 percent of shares in Sirius.
Liberty plans to take control of the Sirius board and choose a new CEO for it, according to Bloomberg. Following the resignation of CEO Mel Karmazin, James Meyer was appointed interim CEO in December.
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei announced in November that the company will also mull over returning capital to Sirius shareholders with stock buybacks or a dividend. Previously, Liberty had argued that Sirius should be more aggressive in their approach to pursue better technology and international expansion.
The acquisition resulted in 1.1 percent rise in Liberty shares to $110.54 in New York Thursday, whereas Sirius rose 0.8 percent to $3.15, reported Bloomberg. Last year, the satellite-radio broadcaster's stock soared 59 percent, helped by recovering auto sales. Sirius radios are pre-installed in nearly two-thirds of new cars.
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