Murdoch In Talks To Sell Stake In Kirch To Liberty Media

Press reports this morning suggest that BSkyB is in talks with Liberty Media to sell its 22% stake in German cable group Kirch. The stake in Kirch, for which the company paid £312 million last year, cost BSkyB £29 million in the three months to September and severely impacted on the groups recent results. BSkyB has a ‘put’ option to sell its stake back to Kirch if the latter underperforms but it is thought that BSkyB may need the permisson of the Kirch board in order to transfer its stake.

US cable company Liberty already has a 25% stake in UK cable operator Telewest and almost 20% in News Corporation as well as an interest in British Sky Broadcasting. Liberty’s growth outside the US is in stark contrast to its famously reclusive chairman John Malone who spends most of his time secluded away in his Colorado ranch. He is said to have met with Leo Kirch, chairman of Kirch, in Berlin yesterday in order to discuss the possibility of a buying the BSkyB stake.

Liberty recently agreed to pay Deutsche Telekom £3.5bn for six regional cable networks and The Wall Street Journal speculates it will not be long before regulators take an interest in Liberty’s ‘march across Europe’.

Subscribers to MediaTel Insight can access more national and international media analysis, forecasts and news. For subscription details please visit the site.