Liberty Media President and CEO Greg Maffei speaks in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 13.Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media is looking to combine the business that contains its stake in SiriusXM with the rest of the radio company, in a deal to create a publicly listed firm controlled by the conglomerate.
The proposal aims to spin off Liberty SiriusXM Group or LSXM, the group through which it owns a 83 per cent stake in SiriusXM, into a new unit that would merge with the radio company.
“SiriusXM minority shareholders will also benefit from enhanced trading dynamics, including increased liquidity and likelihood of future index inclusion,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said.
SiriusXM SIRI-Q said it was evaluating the offer.
After the proposed merger, minority investors of SiriusXM would own about 16 per cent of the new company, while Liberty Media would own the rest.
Shares of SiriusXM fell 9 per cent in premarket trading, while LSXM, series A shares of Liberty Media’s tracking group for the radio-company’s stock, rose about 10.4 per cent.
A tracking stock depends on the financial performance of the segment of the business it “tracks”, which refers to SiriusXM here. They trade separately from the parent company’s stock.
Liberty Media also has publicly listed tracking groups for its interest in Formula One and event ticketing firm LiveNation.