Keeping John Malone out of Takeoverville

Rupert Murdoch is close to a deal to finally get his company out of harms way otherwise known as John Malone. Murdoch is hoping to finalize a deal that will allow him to buy back the 18% voting rights currently in Mr. Malone's pockets. For some reason we would have love to see John Malone and Rupert go at it to see who would end up controlling Newscorp. The US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, is set to approve a long-standing request by News Corp to take control of 35 US television stations currently licensed to Mr Murdoch. The stations could become a key bargaining chip, with the possibility of some of them being handed tax-free to Liberty in exchange for part of its stake in News. The television stations were licensed to Mr Murdoch when News was still domiciled in Australia because the media baron has US citizenship. "We have had discussions with News Corp about them selling an asset to Liberty (in exchange for News Corp shares), which is more attractive for Liberty following the recent rise in News Corp's share price," Greg Maffei, chief executive of Liberty Media, said. News's share price has risen more than 20 per cent this year, closing on Friday at $26.72. read...